For Those Who Remember
by Salem52
Summary: While in Lior, Ed and Al meet a mysterious man who is unlike any person they have ever encountered before. He is kind, dedicated, and loyal to a fault, but is there something more under the facade of good? Watch as the second oldest being on the planet fights for the fate of humanity, for the second time in his life. Pairings undecided, no Yaoi. Will be epic in length.
1. Prologue

**Hello my Peeps this is Salem52 signing in. Well, this will be my second story on this illustrious website. I haven't decided on pairings yet, although there probably will be some at a later time. I would also like to thank my editor, because without her, this would be an illiterate mess. Now, without further ado, I present For Those Who Remember.**

Prologue

"…nine darics, there are none better," cried out a man on a raised platform. The late day sun bore down on him, prompting him to adjust his long-sleeved tunic and headcloth to cover more of his exposed skin . Next to him were young two men, bound and shackled to posts that rose out of the platform, who had no such protection, and were taking the full effect of its heat. This man was one of many in the great capital city of Xerxes, who made their living off the slave trade.

The oasis city of Xerxes was the capital city of the small country of Xerxes, which was located in the middle of the Great Desert. The city was built around a large oasis which watered the entire country. As people would travel between the Rivers of the East and the Mountains of the West, they would stop in Xerxes to rest and revitalize their camels. Thus, being a natural crossroads between two civilizations, Xerxes grew off the trade and soon became the biggest trade city in the three lands.

The market of Xerxes was a hub of trade for those traveling between the mountain civilizations of the West, and the river folk of the East. The eastern folk would bring great camel trains of rice, silk, and porcelain to trade for the ironworks, furs and wood of the mountain folk. Xerxes was also the capital of the prominent slave trade, due the supply being available to both races of people.

Outside of the throng of the market, there could be found numerous inns and taverns. On the outskirts of the city were vast expanses of packed earth, where large caravans would set up massive tents and prepare their wares for the market. In the center of the city, west of the market, was the palace temple of the king. The current king of Xerxes had had a long successful reign over the country, bringing many great things to it. The man's most overwhelming achievement was the creation of numerous irrigation ducts throughout the country. His years were catching up to him though, and there were suspicions that the crown was soon going to pass onto his son.

In one of the numerous taverns throughout the city, was a man. This man was an oddity. He shared many of the characteristics of those native to Xerxes, such as the long blonde hair that was prominent amongst the Xerxes, or the fair skin, unusual considering the desert environment. He had the high cheekbones possessed by the Xerxian royalty. But he was a head higher than any Xerxian, standing at a good six feet. But the most jarring difference was his eyes, while those who hailed from Xerxes were known and identified by their golden eyes; his eyes were a deep, glacial, blue. This man's name was Naruto.

He was traveling to the river countries of the East to see if he could find the origins of the porcelain which had just come to the trade markets in the last two decades or so. He was passing through Xerxes, as it was a natural resting point for travelers such as him. He had been there for four days, resting his camel so that it could make the long journey to the East. He had also come for one last visit to the old king.

Naruto was currently laying on the bed provided by the inn, taking refuge from the sun and just listening to the bustle of the market in the streets below. He had been thinking about the old king, Humayun.

Naruto had heard about the old king's derangement from one of the trade caravans that had come back from Xerxes to restock and resell what they had attained. The king had become obsessed with the pursuit of immortality and was offering large sums of money to anyone who could help him on his endeavors. While Naruto _was_ going to leave before the week was out, he was going to try and talk to the king at least. If nothing else, he could say his last goodbye to him, because he would not be returning to Xerxes for a long time. He felt the king would be dead before he would be back to that city again.

Naruto was shaken from his thoughts by a knock at the door to his room. He took his time, getting up and stretching slowly before answering. He opened the door, letting in a stout man with black hair and a full beard. He turned toward the man and looked at him for a moment, then lay back on the bed. He then shrugged and flicked his hand towards the man in a dismissive manner.

The man nodded, before disappearing into a cloud of smoke to reveal…another Naruto.

"Dismiss," spoke Naruto. His voice was that of a young man somewhere in his mid-twenties.

The second Naruto nodded again, disappearing in a cloud of smoke, completely this time. The Naruto on the bed stiffened for a fraction of a second, before sitting up and running his hand through his hair.

_**"Well…he's gone a little batshit crazy now hasn't he?" **_rang out a voice in Naruto's head.

_"Yea, he's a lot different than the man I left here fifteen years ago," _replied Naruto.

_**"That's an understatement, he's not only gone off the deep end since then, he's drowned in it and they're just finding his body," **_stated the voice again.

_"I might have to stay longer. If what I saw was correct, Humayun would do anything for immortality, even jeopardize his peoples safety. A man who cares nothing for others is dangerous," _concluded Naruto to the now-identified Kurama. He sighed before shrugging his shoulders and got out of bed, _"I guess I will have to talk some sense into him," _

_**"And if you can't talk some sense into him?" **_inquired Kurama.

Naruto didn't respond, instead heading toward his bag of possessions by the door. He started the arduous task of unlacing it.

_"If I can't," _replied Naruto,_ "then I will at least leave this city with the knowledge that I tried." _Naruto began pulling out some clothes from his bag.

The clothing consisted of a black high-collared coat that draped down to his ankles, a burgundy red undershirt, black pants with red stripes, and a straw hat commonly worn by the river folk of the east. The black cloak was very well worn, and looked as if it a motif of some kind in it, but had worn out after years of constant use. After dressing, he pulled on a set of red geta sandals, which just added to his height, making him stand out from the Xerxian population and their rather _short _stature.

He tied his bag back up and pulled out a gold daric, the currency of Xerxes, and placed it on his bed for the person who would inevitably come to clean his room. He then went up to the window, hopped onto the ledge, and looked across the entirety of Xerxes.

This was the reason he chose this inn for his stay. It was located on the only hill in Xerxes and provided a prime view point of all of Xerxes.

Naruto took a deep breath, taking in the city below him. He looked into the sky to see the sun nearing the horizon, bathing the city in a red hue that made the walls of stucco look like they were bleeding. The city was just as beautiful as it was ominous.

"It's getting late," Naruto said to himself, before looking at the road from his inn to the temple palace of the king. The only downside to this inn was that it was located on the outskirts of the city, nowhere close to the palace.

"Well, I guess the king will be getting a surprise visitor," said Naruto to himself, before leaping out of his window and slowly making his way to the palace.

XxX

In the temple palace, Van Hohenheim was doing the final preparations for the most important task ever given to him in his life; transcend the bonds of death and make King Humayun immortal.

Van Hohenheim was a young man of twenty-three. He stood at around five-foot eight, tall for man of Xerxian descent. He had long blonde hair that was tied in a low ponytail, although a few strands hung in front of his face, refusing to stay bound. He wore a loose black shirt and a beige coat that was more reminiscent of monk's robes than an actual coat. Blue pants hung loose about his waist, cut off at the calves, showing muscled legs of one who had worked most of his life.

Van, as he preferred to be called, was kneeling next a large array of circles, triangles, and symbols that was the hallmark of the scientific art that was alchemy. The array had a diameter of about five men, if they stood at arm's length from each other. While the array was covered in multitudes of symbols and writing, the core design was hexagram inscribed upon a circle with triangle inside of the hexagram.

A large piece of black chalk was Van's tool of choice as he made intricate patterns of lines and circles that would allow the king a chance at immortality. Next to him, on a large pedestal, was a peculiar _thing_. This _thing _seemed to be a small floating mass of formless shadow with one large eye and a mouth. It was contained within a glass flask that was usually used to hold highly acidic liquids.

"That looks to be correct Van, good job" said the little mass of shadow, sprouting arms and clapping a few times, before having them recede back into its body. Van looked up at the mass of shadows, before smiling a little and standing. He then turned towards the little _thing _and bowed.

"Thank you, Dwarf in the Flask. Without you I could not have achieved anything in my life. I would have stayed as number twenty-three and would have known nothing other than my blind ignorance. For this, I am eternally in your debt," stated Van, leaning back up to see the Dwarf in the Flask smiling greatly.

"You did well Van. However, I have told you numerous times that your blood gave me life, so I am only repaying a debt," replied the black mass, before its hands reappeared and opened themselves up in a 'come pick me up' motion, like a child wishing for a parent to lift them up. Van only smiled, before walking up to the pedestal and lifting the glass flask up and putting it under his arm.

"Now, Van, summon your king. We need _everyone_ to be present for the start of the ritual," said the Dwarf in the Flask.

XxX

The sun had just dipped under the horizon, when Naruto began the final stretch of road up to King's Palace, known as the Final Road. The sky was filled with dark purples and deep blues as twilight quickly came upon the city of Xerxes. Lights could be seen across the city and great bonfires appeared on the outskirts of the city, created by the various caravans that did not stay in any of the inns.

The Final Road was lined with the houses of the local nobility, those which could afford to stay close to the king. Despite being the time when everyone would return from the bustle of day to prepare for the frivolities of night, the Final Road was surprisingly empty. Not a single house on the road up to the King's Palace was lit up, leading Naruto to believe that the king was having an event of some kind. If that was the case, then Naruto's information-gathering ability had greatly diminished or the event was kept under wraps.

"Well, I guess I might be crashing a party as well," said Naruto to himself.

_**"You don't know, it could be fun, haven't been to any big events in a while, now have we?" **_rang out the voice in Naruto's head, once again.

_"Kurama, what have I said before? You shouldn't talk when we are in public places; if people see me randomly spacing out, they will think I have an illness or something," _replied Naruto annoyed.

_**"Well, it is quite dull in here; after all, one can only get so much entertainment from looking at a wall before they start getting bored," **_retorted Kurama, _**"Besides, what would you care if they thought you were crazy, you'll outlive them anyway," **_

_"Sorry, I thought the illusion I put in there would still be up," _replied Naruto, disregarding Kurama's last statement,_ "when we get ba-" _Naruto was cut off by a loud explosion of sound. The earth started to roll and shake, knocking him down in surprise.

_"Earthquake!?" _thought Naruto in surprise, looking at the shaking buildings around him and at the crumbling castle.

_**"No…it's not an earthquake," **_stated Kurama wearily, before he grunted in shock, _**"KIT, ITS CHAKRA! Can't you feel it?" **_yelled out Kurama inside of Naruto's head.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, before he closed them and looked as if he was focusing quite hard. A split second later he leapt up and started to rush towards the castle at inhuman speeds.

_"How the HELL is there senjutsu chakra, in this day and age, and this much, this is comparable to the fucking Bijuu," _thought Naruto. He ran all the way up to the gates of the palace and was about to vault over them, when a great purple shockwave of light exploded from the castle, causing Naruto to go flying into the wall of one of the noble's buildings on the Final Road.

"Damn, I haven't had a hit like that in years,"he groaned, before standing up and rubbing his back. He looked toward the palace. A light rose up then streaked across the night sky, illuminating Xerxes as though it were day.

Naruto just stood there looking at the light streaking across the sky, then began looking around himself. Black Fissures began appearing in the earth with thousands upon thousands of grasping hands rising out of them.

_"Alright, those don't look friendly," _thought Naruto, as he began dodging the small hands. As he kept on dodging, he looked up to see a massive eye slowly open up over the castle, _"Well…that doesn't look good,"_

_**"No shit, let's try to find out what is in the castle that is causing this," **_recommended Kurama.

Naruto nodded in agreement. He began to make his way towards the palace, all the while dodging the numerous black hands that were trying to grab him. Before he could make any sizable progress to the palace though, the eye above the castle opened completely. Before he could even think about doing anything other than turn slightly to run, a massive beam of blinding white light came down and struck the castle. The last thing Naruto heard, before blacking out, was the scream of pain of 1,072,659 people simultaneously having their souls forcibly ripped from their body.

XxX

"WHAT IS THIS?!" cried out Humayun, as he looked at his frail old hands, shrinking even more, as the life energy was being forcefully removed from his body, "THIS CAN'T POSSIBLY BE IMMORTALITY, YOU TRICKED ME!"

The king looked over toward the Dwarf in the Flask as a horrible pain assaulted his body and he crumbled onto the ground. The Dwarf in the Flask started cackling loudly, as its small body started to glow a sickly purple.

**"HUMAYUN, YOU OLD FOOL, DID YOU THINK YOU WERE THE CENTER OF THE ARRAY?! DID YOU THINK I DID ALL THAT WORK, JUST FOR CHARITY!?" **the Dwarf in the Flask screamed at the dying king.

"Dwarf in the Flask, w-what is happening," asked Van fearfully, "This wasn't what you said would happen; you said the King would be in the center, you said he would become immortal,"

The Dwarf in the Flask stopped cackling, before turning its one eye towards Van and smiling evilly.

**"WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN, VAN HOHENHEIM?" **queried the Dwarf in the Flask, extending its arms out of its body and holding them in above itself, as though it were trying to grab the heavens, **"The price of immortality would obviously not come without a an equivalent cost. Something cannot be attained without giving up something of equal value. This the first rule of alchemy. Whoever stands at the center of the array would transcend humanity and become immortal, but everyone else would pay the price, and right now, Van Hohenheim we…ARE THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING!" **cried out the Dwarf in the Flask, madly, as a white light enveloped them both.

Van Screamed as he felt the souls of over half a million people being forced into his being, merging with his very existence. The last thing he heard, before blacking out from the pain, was the earth-shattering roar of some great beast and the light tinkling of breaking glass.

XxX

**Well, how was that? I really liked this as a beginning; let me know what you guys think. I look forward to hearing back from you guys, it really helps. **

**This is Salem52, signing off.**


	2. Lior

**Hello my peeps, this is Salem52 signing in. I have to say, I love the response I got from the last chapter, you guys are so awesome. This kind of response is something that truly motivates the author to continue to write. Now, to you all, I humbly present the first chapter of…**

**For Those Who Remember**

_The Three Rules of Alchemy_

_1\. Equivalent Exchange: In order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed. _

_2\. Transmutation: In order to transmute, a focus must be created, without, all transmutations will unequivocally fail._

_3\. Human Transmutation: Human Transmutation is strictly forbidden, for while the materials of transmutation may be obtained, for what could equal the value of a human soul? _

Edward Elric was sitting in a chair, at the only open air bar in the desert city of Lior. If one were to look at Ed, they would see a young man of fifteen with long blonde hair, a long red coat, and a rather short stature. He wore a short-sleeved black shirt and pair of long black pants. He wore white gloves and a pocket watch chain was hanging out his right pants pocket attached to a utility belt on his abdomen. On the back of his red coat was a depiction of the Flamel; a cross encircled by a snake and crowned with wings and a halo.

Sitting next to him was his younger brother, Alphonse Elric, who was in a great suit of metal armor, also sporting the Flamel on his left shoulder. The suit was easily six feet tall, suggesting that he was much larger than his older brother.

The city that they were in, Lior, was located in eastern section of the country of Amestris. Amestris was very militaristic, its land that primarily attained through the conquest of neighboring city-states and countries. Amestris itself was a major alchemical superpower, the world leader in new age alchemy. Alchemy played a key role in conquering their neighboring nations. In Amestris, the highest office for an alchemist was the coveted position of state alchemist.

Edward Elric was the youngest state alchemist in history.

"God's children who live upon this land," blared the radio on the counter next to Ed, "Pray in faith and ye shall be saved,"

Ed looked at the radio in slight annoyance, before turning back to the food on his plate, tuning out the voice of the preacher. He sat there for a moment longer, looking down at his food, before looking up at the bartender's curious gaze. Ed sighed, before taking a swig of his drink.

"So…uh, are you guys circus performers or something?" inquired the bartender.

Ed opened his eyes in shock, before spitting out his drink and coughing in exasperation.

"Do we actually look like circus performers to you?" inquired Ed, slightly annoyed.

"Well yeah," replied the bartender, "there was another guy here who looked like he was from the circus as well, but I didn't ask him, 'cause I thought it would be impolite. But then you guys come along and I jus' had to ask,"

Ed growled in annoyance, before hopping off his seat.

"Come on Al, let's go," said Ed as he turned to leave. The large suit of armor next to Ed nodded and got up. But as he turned, his arm brushed the radio, causing it to fall and break into multiple pieces.

"Hey!" cried out the bartender in indignation, "I didn't mean nothing by what I said, and that radio is a lot of money,"

Ed turned and held out his hands in a placating manner.

"No worries, it was just an accident," stated Ed, before reaching into his utility belt, pulling out a stick of chalk and handing it to his brother, "We can fix this,"

"But how? The things smashed to bits," the bartender inquired curiously. The commotion was garnering the attention of a few passersby, who stopped to watch how the two brothers were going to fix the radio.

Ed only smiled and gestured to his brother.

"Just watch and learn, gramps," said Ed smugly as his brother drew a circle on the ground with a simple six-sided pentagram inscribed upon it. Within minutes, the circle was completed. After placing the pieces of the radio onto the circle, Al held his hand above it and a moment later the bright blue light of an alchemical reaction engulfed the bits of radio. When the light dimmed, it revealed a brand new radio that showed nothing of its previous state of disrepair.

"For it is through his light that…" spouted out the radio as though nothing happened.

The crowd of onlookers "ahhed" in amazement. The bartender turned away from his radio to look at the brothers.

"It's a miracle," he breathed out, amazed, "You must have been touched by The Sun God Leto, just like father Cornello!"

"I've been touched by who?" asked Ed, confused. The bartender looked at them, his mouth gaping open in astonishment.

"It's not a miracle," interjected all, his voice that of a young child, "It's just alchemy,"

"Oh, then you guys are alchemists," stated one of the onlookers.

"Yea, I've heard of them!" added another of the crowd. Ed smirked, before striking a flamboyant pose and pointing towards himself and all.

"Then you've all probably heard of us," stated Ed, "we're the Elric brothers,"

"The Elric brothers?" inquired the bartender.

"Oh yeah! I've heard that name before! You're the Fullmetal alchemist, Edward Elric!" exclaimed another one of the onlookers. Ed smiled and closed his eyes, basking in the praise of the crowd…until he got pushed out the way. Realizing only now, that the crowd was mistaking his brother, his _TALLER _brother, for himself; he was about to shout at the crowd to let them know that he was the Fullmetal alchemist when his brothers voice rang out amongst the crowd.

"A-actually, I'm not the Fullmetal alchemist," said Al.

The crowd went immediately silent, before simultaneously looking at Ed in disbelief.

"That little shrimp is the Fullmetal alchemist?" inquired one of the crowd who was actually voicing the entire crowds thoughts.

Ed growled in heavy annoyance, before screaming.

"WHO'S LITTLE? COME AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE YOU BASTARDS!" yelled out Ed, chasing down the crowd of people who would dare taunt him about his height. His stature was always a touchy subject. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet _(or such were the delusions that Ed fed himself on a daily basis)_.

After calming down, Ed walked back up to the bar and sat down on one of the stools, before looking at the bartender.

"So, who's the guy who is preaching on the radio?" inquired Ed to the bartender. The bartender was a little wary of Ed's outburst, but obligingly answerd his question, not wanting to anger him.

"That's our leader, Father Cornello," explained the bartender. "We were lost until he came to our city, he taught us the ways of the Sun God Leto, who grants immortal life to the souls of the faithful. People even say that he resurrects the dead. The Father's miracles are proof of Leto's power."

Ed scowled at the way the man spoke; a devout believer.

"So," Ed began, "this guy's claiming he can bring the dead back to life? This is something I have to see,"

Ed turned to all, before nodding and turning back to the bartender.

"If it is alright, could you tell us where we could find Father Cornello?" asked Ed. The bartender smiled before replying.

"So you wish to learn of Leto's ways," he said reverently. "You can always find Cornello at the Church of Leto in the center of the city, and you're in luck. Today he is performing mass at 12:30 at the church. If you hurry, you could make it before he starts,"

Ed nodded, pulling a wallet out of an interior pocket of his coat, pulling out a wad of paper senz, the currency of Amestris, and placing it on the counter of the bar. He turned and started down the road toward the center of the city and, presumably, this Father Cornello's "miracles".

XxX

Ed and Al looked on in silence as the crowd around them roared for the umpteenth time. For the last hour or so, this Father Cornello had been doing "miracles" and he had just completed another one, transmuting a flower that he had caught from one of the crowd, into a larger red and yellow version of the same flower. The only difference between the two was the fact that the larger flower was made of precious gems, instead of the organic plant matter of the smaller flower. Ed turned toward his brother.

"So, Al, what do you think?" inquired Ed, wanting Al's input on the Priest's "miracles."

"Well, there is no doubt that Father Cornello's miracles are definitely alchemy," replied Alphonse. Ed nodded, before returning his gaze to Cornello. He was about to make another comment, when a voice made itself known…between the brothers.

"Those are some pretty cool tricks, ain't they," said the voice.

Ed and Al made a sound of exclamation, as they backed a step away from the owner of the voice. Ed looked up to see an oddly-dressed man. The man stood at about six foot even and had long blonde hair like Ed's, albeit a little wilder. One of the most striking features was the man's deep blue eyes, which was quite rare for Amestris, as the most common eye color was brown and green. As for his dress; he wore a burgundy dress shirt with the top button undone, an old, black, high-collared coat that went down to his ankles, and loose black dress style pants. He also had on a conical straw hat that was most commonly used by the rice farmers in far of Xing. On the man's feet was the oddest pair of sandals that Ed had ever seen. They were, essentially, two flat pieces of wood that were attached to the feet by pieces of padded leather. On the soles of the sandals were two wooden protrusions that extended down from the sandal about three inches.

After a moment of staring at the man, Ed finally managed to respond.

"Who are you?" inquired Ed.

The man only shrugged, before replying."Nobody, really, just a traveler," Ed scowled.

"You're dressed pretty oddly for a 'nobody," retorted Ed. The man only gave a half smile.

"You're one to be talking, short-stuff."

Ed growled in anger, before launching himself at the man, screaming.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL, YOU COULDN'T EVEN FEEL THEM IF YOU STEPPED ON THEM?!" the man dodged to the side, letting Ed sail past him, before laughing whole-heartedly.

"You know what, kid, I like you. I think I might just tag along with you," stated the man, extending a hand down to Ed. Ed looked up at the hand for a moment, before grasping it and pulling himself up.

"What make you think you can tag along with us?" inquired Ed, indignantly. The man only smiled wider.

"Who said you had a choice," he replied, before extending his hand again, except this time in greetings.

"What's your name, kid?" inquired the man.

"Edward Elric, and you?" the man stopped for a moment, before smiling.

"My name, well, I guess you could call m Naruto Uzumaki,"

XxX

Naruto was sitting in one of the pews a few rows behind the Elric brothers; they were all in the Grand Church of The Sun God Leto. He wore a smile like always, except this one was more grim. He had just heard the older Elric brother, Ed, list off the ingredients of the human body like a shopping list to one the fanatics of Leto, a girl by the name of Rose. After which, he told her the tale of Daedalus and Icarus.

"That is some obscure knowledge. Since Xerxes was destroyed, I'm surprised anyone even knows of Greece, even if it is only through their tales," said Naruto to himself. He half-expecting a voice to resound through his head. When he heard no response, he sighed and stood up in the pews and walked over to the brothers.

"You know," started off Naruto, grasping Ed's shoulder, "as much as I know you like disproving _other _people's beliefs, I believe you came here for something,"

Ed looked at Naruto warily, before brushing Naruto's hand off his shoulder and turning towards Rose. He sighed.

"Rose, do you think your Father Cornello could convert a _poor old sinner _like me?" said Ed, almost choking on the false sincerity that he had put into that statement.

Rose's eyes lit up in happiness.

"Of course! Father Cornello will help anyone who comes to his church seeking redemption in the eyes of our Lord!" she exclaimed, choosing to forget the previous conversation, wanting to instead help Ed's _poor lost soul_.

"You don't mind if I tag along, do you?" he inquired.

Rose just nodded enthusiastically, before dashing off to a side door, yelling.

"I'll be back. I have to let Father Cornello know that you have come to be saved. I will be back in just a moment!" With that said, she disappeared behind a door and left the trio of travelers alone. They all stood there for a moment, until Naruto decided to move to sit on one of the pews. He looked at the brothers, expecting them to sit, before shrugging and crossing his arms in front of himself.

"So, Ed, where'd you read the story of Daedalus and Icarus," inquired Naruto? He leaned back and put his arms behind his head, having found that having his arms crossed in front of himself was not comfortable

Ed was apparently just as surprised as Naruto that someone else knew of the ancient tale. He just stared at Naruto for a moment, before slightly shaking his head and replying, "When I was younger, I had an…accident. While I was recovering I had a lot of time to research and I came upon the history of Xerxes and part of their cultures and stories. I guess they just caught my interest. How do you know about it? As you know this is not exactly common knowledge. You're the first person I've ever met who's even heard of Daedalus and Icarus.

Naruto struck a thoughtful pose.

"Well, I guess you could call me a historian," replied Naruto, which wasn't a complete lie. He probably knew more about the history of the world than any other person on it.

Ed nodded in understanding, accepting that answer. They sat there in relative silence until Rose came in about ten minutes later with another man, a Brother Krei. Krei bowed to them, before leading them through a door at the side of the auditorium. He brought them down several floors, before stopping in front of two large wooden doors, guarded by two men in white robes, bearing long spears.

"The Father will see you now," said Brother Krei, before opening the double doors and leading them into a large, cavernous, underground room.

"Good, we don't have a lot of time," replied Ed, annoyed that they had been brought all the way down to some room, just to see Father Cornello.

"Well then," stated Brother Krei, stopping a few paces ahead of the group, "LETS MAKE THIS QUICK,"

Brother Krei spun around to face them, holding a large caliber revolver, and pointing it directly at Alphonse. Rose gasped in surprise, when one of the men in the white robes grabbed her and forced away from the group and the inevitable bullets that would be loosed upon them.

"BROTHER KREI, what is the meaning of this!" she exclaimed in surprise and no small amount of fear. Brother Krei looked over at her, before turning his eyes back to Alphonse.

"These men are heathens Rose. They are here to try to disprove and discredit Leto and our Father Cornello. They must be purged," he cried out, before pulling the trigger of his gun and shooting the metal clad head of Alphonse.

"NO, Alphonse!" cried out Rose, as the metal helmet launched from the suit of armor, only to reveal the suit to be…empty.

"WHAT!" exclaimed the man in surprise, shocked at the empty metal suit.

"Well, now that is VERY interesting," came a voice from behind Krei. Everyone gasped in surprise, not having seen Naruto move, or even notice him until he had spoken.

"_How did he move that fast?" _everyone wondered.

Krei tried to distance himself so that he could see Naruto, but before he could even make a move to get away, a sharp pain entered his back. The last thing he felt before blacking out was two hands wrapping themselves around his head and twisting.

Everyone gasped again, except this time in shock as a fellow human being had just been killed. Ed looked at the falling body, watched as it crumpled to the floor. His face morphed into a mask of hate and anger.

"WHY DID YOU KILL HIM, YOU BASTARD," cried out Ed, clapping his hands together and pressing them into the ground.

Blue light flowed from his hands, just like when Alphonse had fixed up the radio. This time though, there was no radio, instead, the very ground rose up and enveloped Naruto in a cocoon of hard rock and stone. Naruto's eyes widened. For the first time in a long while he was truly surprised.

"I'm just seeing all kinds of interesting things today now aren't I," stated Naruto, not even trying to escape from his sedimentary prison.

"SHUT UP!" yelled out Ed in anger, "That man didn't need to die, WHY DID YOU KILL HIM!"

The perpetual smile that was on Naruto's face disappeared to be replaced with a scowl.

"Ed," started off Naruto, his voice very serious, "what do you think Krei would have done after his shock had worn off? Do you think he would just throw down his gun and say 'Oh well, I tried,'?" queried Naruto, Ed just stayed silent, looking down. "To answer the question, no, he would have resumed firing, most likely at you. Or threaten to shoot Rose until he was in a more favorable position to kill you and your brother. Remember Ed, nothing and no one is more important than those who are closet to your heart,"

Ed didn't respond. He just stood there with his head down, knowing that what Naruto was saying was not only plausible, but incredibly likely.

"Brother," said Alphonse soothingly. Ed snapped out of his anger and looked toward Alphonse.

"Yeah Al?" inquired Ed. Al looked bashful, if a suit of armor could accomplish such a feat.

"Well…while I don't really like that he killed that man, I can understand where he is coming from. He did it to protect us. So, for that," it was then that Alphonse turned to the still- cocooned Naruto and bowed toward him. "Thank you very much, Naruto, for protecting my brother, Rose, and I."

Naruto only looked toward Alphonse, before smiling and shrugging, or as best he could, considering his current situation.

"No problem Al, just make sure your brother doesn't blow up at me next time, and also watch your step, I don't think those two would appreciate you stepping on any of their extremities," replied Naruto.

Ed, Al, and Rose turned around to see the two white robed guards knocked out on the ground. They each turned around to inquire about how Naruto had managed to move so fast when a voice rang out across the room.

"What is all of this commotion about!?"

The group looked to the end of the room to see a pair of doors slide open, revealing a man walking down a long set of steps. The man was around five foot eight, around his mid to late fifties, and had a bald head. He was also immensely overweight and had a walking cane. He was dressed in the robes of a priest and wore leather sandals.

"Damn it! Krei was one of my most devout followers," spoke the man irritated. He looked at the people in the hall. His eyes came upon Rose.

"Ahh, Rose, my child, how are you this fine day?" asked Cornello, morphing from the irate old man to the kindly priest in the blink of the eye. Rose bowed quickly.

"Father Cornello, why did you dothis? Why did you order these men killed," inquired Rose, her voice almost desperate. The Father put his hand on his chin, before replying.

"Rose, my child, these men are traitorous heathens, who would sow seeds of doubt against our great lord Leto," spoke Father Cornello, illustrating his actions by thrusting his hand in front and closing his fist quickly, as though he were squashing a fruit of some kind, "Now, Rose, my child, pick up that gun and shoot Edward Elric,"

Ed and Al, looked back toward Rose who had just picked up the gun and was staring at it in fear. She then looked at Ed, and slowly lifted the gun, before pointing it at him.

"Good, my child. Know that Leto blesses those who are loyal to him with eternal life and the return of their loved ones," encouraged Cornello. He knew that the girl was putty in his hands once he brought up the resurrection of her beloved, deceased, boyfriend.

Rose, hearing the words of Cornello, looked as though she were about to shoot, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the smiling face of Naruto.

She then dropped the gun and fell to her knees, crying, horrified that she was just about to kill another human being.

Cornello growled in irritation. His pawn had obviously lost her confidence and was going to be useless.

Naruto walked away from the crying Rose, before leveling a cold glare at Cornello.

"You know, Father Cornello," began Naruto, "in my past, I've had dealings with many who have manipulated those who were too desperate or to weak-willed to do anything but follow. I highly dislike your kind, and personally I would like nothing more than to break your fat neck, but these boys here have some questions they'd like answered. So if you oblige them, I can offer a fitting punishment later." With that said, Naruto walked to the side of the room and leaned against it.

"Now then, Father Cornello," said Ed, turning away from the crying Rose, "I have some questions to ask you,"

"Oh, and what might those be," inquired Cornello, obviously miffed about Rose not killing the Elrics. Now he had to talk his way out the situation diplomatically.

"Well, like how you are using second-rate alchemy to manipulate your followers," accused Ed. Cornello smiled, almost seeming to adopt a persona at will.

"What I do is not alchemy, boy. I have merely been touched by the sun god Leto, and he performs his miracles through me. Besides, if what you say is true, how could I be transmuting something more, out of something less?" retorted Cornello, smirking as he believed he had stumped the Elric.

"Yeah, that is what I thought too," explained Ed, "but as I started thinking about it, there is one way that you could do it." Ed then pulled out a small notebook, the one that held the ingredients for the average adult. "The Secret elixir, the Red Stone, the Fifth Element, it goes by many names, but each account describes similar effects to what you have been doing here in Lior: my conclusion, is that you, Cornello, are in possession of a philosopher stone,"

Cornello's eyes bulged, before he started stuttering.

"Tha-that's preposterous! The philosopher stone is myth, nothing more,"

"It's probably the stone in your ring, the one on your left hand," said Ed, when he saw Cornello's eyes open even wider. Cornello then started laughing wholeheartedly.

"YOU REALLY ARE A PRODEGY, EDWARD ELRIC!" cried out Cornello, madly, "BUT NOW THAT YOU KNOW MY SECRET, I CAN'T POSSIBLY LET YOU FOUR LIVE," As he was saying this, he brought his cane out in front of him and then put it on his shoulder. He placed his left hand on the cane and a red light sprung forth from it. When the light died down, instead of a cane on Cornello's shoulder, there was a large, multi-barreled, automatic machine gun.

A moment later, Cornello pulled the trigger, releasing a continuous volley of bullets that rained down on them all.

Even using alchemy, it was all Ed and Al could do to put up a wall of earth, before the bullets came. Rose, however, did not have such a luxury. She fell back in surprise and fear. She saw her death coming and mourned the fact that she could not do more with her life. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable pain that the bullets would bring. But right before the bullets hit, she felt a pair of arms grasp her. A force hit her body, and she was grateful for the hand that was supporting her, preventing the whiplash. As soon as it came, the force left. She looked around her, not recognizing her surroundings, before realizing that she was in the corridor that they had used to enter the room she had just been in.

"Rose," said the owner of the hands that were lifting her from the floor by her shoulders, "ROSE!" yelled the voice.

At the yell, Rose looked up to see Naruto, breathing very heavily.

"Wh-How-How di-" she stuttered, not being able to comprehend how she was still alive.

"Rose, listen to me," stated Naruto, urgently, "Rose!"

"Yes," she said meekly.

"Rose, I need you to find a safe place to stay until Ed an-" he was cut off by a loud boom from the room that they had just exited. He stood up and headed towards the stairs. As he reached the base of the stairs, he turned to Rose.

"Rose," he called, gaining the girl's attention, "make sure you follow my instructions; find a safe place. You might want to get out of Lior. Things are gonna get pretty hectic soon." With that said, he rushed up the stairs to the church above.

XxX

Cornello was running back to his office, to order everyone in the city to be on the lookout for the "Traitorous Heathens" that were the Elric Brothers. He opened the door to his office, only to find the Fullmetal Alchemist himself sitting on his desk.

"Wh-wh-you infernal little BRAT! What are you doing in my office?" he asked, furious that the Fullmetal Alchemist was in his office the entire time that he had been looking for them.

"Look, do you think we can just cut the crap and talk, I just have some questions about the Philosopher stone," said Ed, smirking, "Or…maybe you'd like to get the military involved, I bet I could get them to shut down this place real good"

Cornello looked absolutely livid, but took a deep breath, and calmed down, realizing a situation like this, doesn't often present itself. He took a look behind him to make sure no one was there, before stepping into his office and closing the door.

"Alright, Fullmetal Alchemist, ask your questions," replied Cornello.

"Well, you could do anything with the Philosopher's stone right? Why waste all your time and power doing petty tricks and phony miracles," inquired Ed.

At this, Cornello actually smiled, although it was a smile of satisfaction.

"The reason I do my miracles, is that with each new miracle, I can attract more people to the religion of Letoism, people who would lay down their lives for my sake. I am slowly building a legion of holy warriors, an army of soldiers unafraid to die. If I continue my miracles, in a few more years I could have enough people in my order that I could wage war upon the world! And I'll use the Philosopher's stone to destroy this country from the inside out," He let out an evil laugh. It was cut short however, when Ed started laughing too. Except his was the laugh of someone who just been told a good joke, instead of the insane the laughter that Cornello produced.

"What! Why are you laughing, you should be cowering?!" cried out Cornello, confused.

"You know," started Ed, "you really are a novice." With that he held up the controller for the city-wide broadcast system, and pointed to Cornello's left, where a microphone was subtly placed on the floor.

Cornello looked at the controller, then looked at the microphone, and then back at the controller, before the message in his mind clicked.

His screams of anger were hid throughout the city as he tried, and failed, to get the broadcasting controller away from Ed. After a moment of struggle, Cornello backed up against the door and yelled "HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN ON?"

Ed only laughed."The whole time. Your 'believers' heard ever, single, word,"

"YOU LITTLE BRAT, YOU'LL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS!" Cornello lifted his cane up and brought his left hand over to transmute it into a rocket launcher. However, before Cornello could lift the rocket launcher, Ed had already transmuted a knife out of one of the paper weights on the desk and sliced the barrel off of the Launcher.

"Face it," said Ed, backing away from Cornello, "You are just outclassed here,"

Cornello's eyes opened wide in surprise. But he brought his left hand up to the stump of his weapon and began another transmutation.

"No, you are the one that's outclassed, I AM WITHOUT RIVAL!" The stump of the gun started glowing red, like a laser preparing to fire. The light from the transmutation flickered erratically, then imploded. The Father's arm melded with the metal of the gun, forming a grotesque mesh of skin and metal.

"He had a rebound," muttered Ed to himself. He looked upon Cornello, who was now gasping in pain, and for a moment, felt pity. Cornello looked upon Ed, and a new fire sprang back into his eyes.

"No," he said to himself, "no, no, No, NO, I SHALL NOT BE SHAMED LIKE THIS, I AM WITHOUT EQUAL,"

After saying that, he pressed his left hand to his chest, enveloping his entire body in the red alchemical light of the Philosophers stone.

Ed looked on in abstract horror, as Cornello rose in front of him, a massive behemoth of anger and muscle. Without a moment's hesitation, Ed ran between the hulking Cornello's legs and down to the Auditorium below.

As Ed ran down the stairs to the auditorium, he could hear and feel Cornello coming down the stairs behind him. He reached the doors at the bottom of the stairs and dove left into the auditorium. Not a moment later, the hulking Cornello came bursting through the door, and the wall, landing right where Ed would have been, had he not dove left.

Cornello looked around the auditorium, spotting Ed, who had just gotten up from his dive. Cornello charged Ed, swinging madly. After a few swings, he managed to clip Ed with one of his punches, sending him flying off into one of the pews.

"**Edward Elric," **came out the mutated voice of Cornello, **"God has deemed you to be unholy. As the fist of God, it is my duty to destroy you Heathen!" **

Cornello smashed his fist down, but Ed rolled out of the way and hopped up. He ran over to the large statue of Leto in the center of the Auditorium. He clapped his hands together, then placed them on the base of the statue.

"If you want the fist of God so much, THEN YOU CAN HAVE IT!" Blue light engulfed Ed's hands and up on the top of the statue, a hand made of stone launched itself out from the statue and smashed Cornello to the ground.

A red light engulfed Cornello. He reverted back to his normal form, albeit still with his mutated right arm. He was crying in pain. Ed walked over to him, grabbed him by the head and punched him in the face.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Ed, grabbing Cornello's head again and holding it up so he could look into his eyes. "Just tell us where the Philosopher's stone is!"

Cornello only whimpered some more, then they both gasped and watched as the supposed philosopher's stone that was imbedded in Cornello's ring fell out onto the floor. Ed reached down to grab it. The stone cracked, lost its luster and disintegrated into dust.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Ed, confused, "The stone, it's supposed to be perfect material, how did it just break like that,"

"I-I d-don't know, please don't hurt me, I'm begging you. I didn't know anything about it, other than that it augmented my alchemy. I didn't know any more. Please, spare me," pleaded Cornello, breaking down into tears.

"It was a fake," stated Edward, his voice sounding incredibly dead. "We went through all that trouble, risked our lives, and for what, a damn fake,"

Cornello had stopped groveling below Ed and raised his hand like a school boy asking a question.

"So, um, what about me?" he said meekly.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THE HELL YOU DO, JUST LEAVE!" yelled Ed, Cornello did not need a second prompting, and quickly crawled out of the auditorium on hands and knees.

Ed looked around the auditorium, sighed and headed towards the exit.

"I guess it's back to square one again," Ed muttered to himself, and left to go find his brother.

XxX

The sun was setting on the city of Lior. Ed had searched the city for Al, before returning to the church, only to find Al sitting on the steps, waiting for him. Ed had explained all that had happened with Cornello and they were now discussing what to do next.

"So," Alphonse started, "the stone was a fake,"

"Yeah," confirmed Ed, "just like that preist,"

Ed sighed, before knocking on Al's armor, a grim reminder that Al did not have a body.

"I'm sorry Al, for a moment, I had actually thought we had found a way to get your body back," apologized Ed hanging his head in self-disappointment.

Alphonse was about to reply, when they heard tge sound of a gun hammer being pulled back. Ed and Al looked to see Rose pointing the gun once again, at Ed.

"Ed, give me the Philosopher's stone," stated Rose, the gun shaking in her hands.

"I'm sorry Rose, but as I was just telling Al here, the stone was a fake, it shattered,"

"YOU'RE LYING," denied Rose, tears leaking from her eyes, "You just want it for yourself, so you can use it on your bodies, and so you can see your mother again,"

Ed looked shocked, before anger overtook it.

"How do you know about that Rose?" Rose's eyes opened in fear at the sheer intensity of the older Elric's stare. Alphonse placed his hand on Ed's shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Brother, when I was setting up the loudspeaker through the city, she was there. I told of our history and why she can never bring her beloved back to li-"

"LIAR, YOU SAID THAT THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE WAS AN ALL POWERFUL ITEM, THAT IT-"

"SHUT UP," cried out Ed, tears leaking from the edges of his eyes, "people don't come back from the dead, Rose, not ever"

Rose fell to the ground, crying, muttering about how Father Cornello had told her that if she prayed enough, her beloved would be resurrected.

Believing that he could be of no more help to her, Ed walked past Rose. She turned and leapt at Ed, clinging to his red coat.

"Please," she cried, "that hope was all I had left in life. What am I supposed to do now,"

Ed scoffed, before brushed her hand off of his coat and walked down the steps.

"PLEASE, TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" cried out Rose in desperation. Ed stopped on the steps, before looking up to watch the sunset.

"I cannot do that Rose. Each of us has to find our own way in life; you have two strong legs, so use them. You are strong enough to make your own path. You don't need anyone, to tell you what to do,"

Ed and Al continued their way on down the steps, and headed towards the train station.

XxX

Cornello looked out of his office window, to the riotous crowds below. They had been gathering outside the church since his little "speech" earlier.

"That damn Brat, all that work for nothing," said Cornello to himself.

"Oh yes," said a voice from the shadows.

Cornello turned, and squinted into the darkness, only to see…Naruto. Except this Naruto looked more serious, not the carefree Naruto of before. This Naruto, looked like a hard, cold, killer.

"I know how it feels to have ones plans completely and utterly ruined," continued Naruto.

Cornello narrowed his eyes, before growling. "You," he said, getting angrier, "you helped the 'Fullmetal-Brat' do all this to me. YOU'RE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE," yelled out Cornello, pulling out a small pistol and pointing it at Naruto. But before he could even think about pulling the trigger, Naruto disappeared from view. A moment later, Naruto reappeared in front of Cornello, grasping the priest's head as though it a fruit. Naruto leaned in next to Cornello's ear and whispered.

"You know when I said earlier, about how I really dislike your kind," said Naruto, "I lied. I absolutely loathe those like you. But the worst thing is, I used to be just like you." Cornello backed up and looked into Naruto's eyes. There was a brief flash of purple in them. But before he could do anything more than blink, Naruto tore his hand away from Cornello's head.

To a normal person, it would have looked like Cornello had just fainted on the spot, but if one were able to see chakra, the spiritual energy that exists in all things, they would have seen something truly terrible. Balled up in Naruto's hand, was Cornello's soul. Naruto shivered a little, as he closed his fist on the ball, absorbing all that was Cornello, into himself.

Naruto looked around the room, walked up to Cornello's library and took a couple of books. He then turned toward the corpse of Cornello and did a slight bow, his playful persona showing itself, albeit, quite morbidly.

"Well, it was a pleasure talking to you, Cornello, but I'm afraid I must be off. I have a train ride that I do not want to miss," With that, Naruto walked to the window, opened it and disappeared in a blur of black and red.

Moments later a series of eyes and mouths started to appear out of the shadows of the office, all looking at the open window.

"This is an interesting turn of events," said one of the mouths. "Father will wish to hear of this immediately." Then all at once, the eyes and mouths disappeared, leaving the corpse of Cornello as the only thing within the room.

XxX

Ed looked out of the window of the train car that he shared with Al. The night was inky dark, so he couldn't see much, but there was still a serene feeling in simply watching the darkness slide by.

"Brother," stated Al, getting Ed's attention, "Do you think Mr. Naruto will be angry that we left him in Lior,"

"You know Al, I don't know, but boy was that guy was a real character," replied Ed, yawning.

"Why thank you Ed! I'll take that as a compliment," rang out the voice of Naruto, next to Ed.

Both Ed and Al jumped in surprise, before looking to the seat next to Ed, empty not a second ago, that now held the smiling Naruto.

"What the hell!" exclaimed Ed, surprised, and more than a little wary of the ease in which Naruto had just come into their booth.

"Oh come now, Ed," replied Naruto, "is that a way to greet a friend?"

Ed looked incredibly exasperated, not even able to respond. Naruto turned to look at Alphonse, before smiling.

"At least I know Al is my friend, right Alphonse?" inquired Naruto. Al just laughed, before replying, "Yep." Both Naruto and Al laughed some more. Ed smiled at seeing his brother laugh; he then looked at the laughing Naruto, before finally sighing and turning to look out at the darkness once more.

Sure he was a little weird, and bit exuberant, but that didn't make him bad.

_"Naruto Uzumaki, I think you and I could be friends," _thought Ed, gazing out at the infinite blackness that was the night.

XxX

**Well, how was that? I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the interactions between Naruto and the Elric Brothers. I hoped you guys liked this chapter as much as I did. Once again, I would always like to thank my director, as without her, this thing would be impossible. **

**Please let me know your thoughts and anything that you might find interesting, I always love to look at something from as many angles as possible.**

**Now, I say good luck, and good night.**

**This is Salem52 signing off.**


	3. God

**Hello my peeps! This is****Salem52****signing in. I hope you guys are ready, because****here's****another dose of For Those Who Remember. Now, without further ado, I give you…**

**For Those Who Remember**

Colonel Roy Mustang was a man who prided himself in keeping well-informed, having informants in almost every branch of the military, and knowing people who had eyes on the rest. This pride was a byproduct of his ambition to become Fuhrer of Amestris, as well as his upbringing under his foster mother, Chris Mustang, or more well known as Madame Christmas. Mustang himself stood at around five-foot eight and was, overall, considered very attractive. He had short, stylishly unkempt, black hair and black eyes, which were kept in a perpetual, piercing stare. The blue uniform of the military was his choice of dress whilst on the job and the majority of the time he was off of his job as well. The comforting feel of the blue fabric that had seen him through his time in the Ishvalan War of Extermination gave him a sense of security that was oftentimes needed in his line of work. In addition to his uniform, he wore a pair of white gloves that held the transmutation circle for his specific brand of alchemy, Flame alchemy. Roy also held the position of State Alchemist, bearing the title of The Flame Alchemist.

Currently Roy was sitting in office in Eastern Command, the military headquarters of East City. He was leaning back, feeling exasperated.

He had just had one of the most confusing conversations of his life.

XxX

"_Well done with the Lior case, Ed. I'm glad that you could resolve that matter on your own," commended Roy, sighing. Ed hadn't even saluted when he finished his report, instead slouching into a seat on the couch in Roy's office. Ed looked over at Roy before shrugging and leaning his head back. _

"_Well, we didn't really do it for you," stated Ed. _

_Mustang shrugged an "oh well," before looking over at the man the Elrics had brought with them, who was sitting on the couch next to Al. _

_The man was…strange. He had an air about him that made Roy feel on edge. It was this sixth sense that he had developed during the Ishvalan War, and he was not about to dismiss it now. He felt as if he were in the presence of a . . . predator. Roy turned away from the man, returning his gaze to the elder Elric._

"_You mentioned that Cornello had a stone that augmented his power? Was it __**the**__ stone,"_

"_Unfortunately not, the stone was a fake. It gave Cornello increased power, and led me to believe it was real. I thought it was real all the way up until his alchemy rebounded. The rebound was so intense that it completely mutilated his arm and the majority of his torso. Soon after, though, the stone disintegrated," stated Ed, sounding depressed, "Before the rebound however, Cornello could do some amazing things, even with an incomplete stone,"_

"_Yeah, we saw him transmute a tiny flower that couldn't have weighed more than a fifty-__cen__coin, into a massive, bejeweled, metal rose," exclaimed Al, sounding infinitely more excited than his depressed brother. Ed nodded, before sighing once again._

"_It makes you think of how powerful the real stone must be."_

_Roy nodded in agreement, before looking at the odd man again. Throughout the entire report, the man hadn't said anything, instead reading a small, orange, leather-bound book._ _Ed noticed Roy's gaze, before sighing and gesturing over to Naruto._

"_Mustang, this is Naruto Uzumaki. He helped rescue a civilian who had been with us when Cornello assaulted Al and me." Ed then closed his eyes, looking down at the ground in depression, "He also saved my life… albeit through the death of another,"_

_Roy looked at Naruto, who by now had shut his book and slipped it back inside his coat._

"_I guess I must thank you, Mr. Uzumaki," said Roy, "We might miss Ed if he was gone."_

_Naruto just waved his hand, smiling,"I just did what any person would have done," _

_Mustang hmm'ed, before leaning forward and studying Naruto's face."Pardon my asking, but have we ever met? You seem very familiar?" _

_Naruto smiled, before barking out a small laugh."No, we have not met, at least not directly," replied Naruto. Everyone in the room looked at Naruto, confused. _

"_What do you mean 'not directly'?" inquired Mustang, slightly annoyed at Naruto's cryptic answer._

"_Well, I have been working with Christmas since the beginning; I am guessing you probably saw me with her, back when she was low on staff," said Naruto._

_When Naruto mentioned Christmas, Mustang's eyes hardened. Not many people knew of Mustang's connection with Madam Christmas and he liked to keep it that way._

"_I am afraid that I don't know what you are talking about. Perhaps you are thinking of someone else," replied Roy, subtly taking his left hand off of his desk and slipping it into his coat pocket._

_Naruto looked at Roy pointedly, before shrugging and pulling out his book. "Perhaps," he said._

_Roy reached into his desk and pulled out a folder, placing it on top of his desk. He looked at Ed, who got up and retrieved it, before returning to his seat on the couch. Ed opened the first page of the folder to reveal a picture of a middle-aged man with brown hair, wire-framed glasses and a very friendly smile._ _Above the picture was the name Shou Tucker._

"_Who is this?" inquired Ed. _

"_Shou Tucker," replied Mustang, "one of East City's most renowned bio-alchemists. He earned his State Alchemist's watch and the title of Sewing Life alchemist when he successfully transmuted the first speaking chimera," _

"_Wait!" shouted out Ed, standing up and looking at Roy surprised, "Are you saying that Tucker transmuted a chimera that could speak English?!" Roy sighed, before nodding._

"_Supposedly, the chimera only said one thing while it was alive," informed Roy. "I want to die," then it didn't eat or drink until it got its wish,'_

_Ed looked down at the picture directly below Tucker's, which showed a hideous looking chimera that looked like the demonic spawn of a monkey and a dog. Ed remained silent as he read the rest of the document on Tucker and his research into bio-alchemy._

"_I don't know much about him. But he is probably your best shot at finding out how Cornello transmuted organic material into inorganic material,"_

_Ed nodded, shutting the folder and handing it back to Mustang. _

"_I'll have one of my men come and give you and your brother a ride over to Tucker's house," stated Roy, picking up the phone that was on his desk and dialing a number._

"_Wait, what are you playing at?!" cried out Ed, standing up abruptly and pointing an accusing finger at Roy. Roy gripped the phone firmly, looking thoroughly annoyed._

"_I'm not playing at anything Elric," replied Roy, "This is just a thanks for your work in__Lior__." Then he muttered more to himself, than to Ed, It's better than being in your debt in any case."_

_Roy then continued spinning the dial on the phone, calling down to the front desk of Eastern Command and requesting transportation for the Elric brothers. _

"_I will come to Tucker's house at the end of the week; have a report ready for me detailing any discoveries you make. Until then, you're dismissed" commanded Roy. Ed stood up and saluted Roy before turning to leave._

"_Come on Al, we should get going," stated Ed, before turning to Naruto, "Will you be coming with us Mr. Naruto?"_

_Naruto nodded, standing up and turning to the colonel. He bowed his head in farewell, then placed his conical hat on his head. He turned to Ed, who had started toward the door. _

"_Just a moment, I would like to have a word in private with Mr. Uzumaki," stated Roy, halting the group. Naruto turned around and looked at Roy, before shrugging. _

"_You go on ahead Ed, I'll catch up with you guys," Naruto then walked up to Roy's desk, pulled out the chair that was in front of it and sat down, placing his conical hat on his lap. Ed looked at Roy, who waved him away. Ed frowned slightly, before turning to his brother._

"_Come on Al, let's get going." Ed turned and walked out of the room, his brother quickly following behind him._

_When the door closed, Roy stood up abruptly, baring his gloved left hand at Naruto. _

"_How do you know of my connections to Madam Christmas?" inquired Roy firmly, looking at Naruto with cold eyes._

"_As I said, I used to work with her, in the beginning," replied Naruto._

"_Do NOT test me, Mr. Uzumaki," yelled out Mustang, "I know Christmas. She never employs men. She considers them too unreliable,"_

_Naruto chuckled, looking at Roy amused. "I suppose you tried to work for her, before you apprenticed under Hawkeye,"_

_Mustang snapped his fingers, sending a small funnel of flame launching from his fingertips toward Naruto. The flame did not actually reach Naruto, instead fizzling out about a quarter inch away from his face. Naruto looked unfazed, just waving his hand to remove the smell of burnt ozone._

"_So, that is how you do it," stated Naruto, making Mustang narrow his eyes, "You don't actually create flames using alchemy, do you?" Mustang's eyes widened. "You lower the density of the air, splitting the major elements from it. You then separate any carbon from the local carbon-monoxide and use your gloves to create a spark that ignites the carbon. With mass amounts of pure oxygen to fuel the fire, you could create an inferno with relative ease. The best part is that the denser air around the flame acts as an amazing insulator, keeping it under your control." Naruto then shook his head, before breathing out, "It's really quite ingenious."_

_Mustang was completely astounded, and a little frightened. This man had just deciphered in no time flat, the alchemy that had taken Mustang's master an entire lifetime to create, and Mustang's adolescence to perfect. _

_Mustang backed up, sitting hard into his chair. Naruto on the other hand, chuckled, ten stood up and placed his conical hat in his head._

"_Who are you?" asked Mustang, still unable to believe that Naruto had been able to decipher his alchemy. _

_Naruto stopped and turned around, smiling. "I'm just a traveling historian who has a knack for writing," replied Naruto. With that said, Naruto raised his hand in farewell, turned around and left the office. _

_(Flashback End)_

Mustang was shaken from his thoughts by a knock on the door. He straightened in his seat and slipped the glove off his hand, placing it into his pocket.

"Come in," said Roy in a commanding voice.

The door to his office opened, and in walked a blonde woman dressed in the garb of the military. She walked up to Roy's desk, before snapping a salute.

"At ease Hawkeye." Mustang looked at the woman for a moment, watching as she brought her hand down from a salute, then put both hands loosely behind her back.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye was a strong woman. She had joined the military at the age of nineteen, and had never looked back. Since the beginning of her career, she had been under the command of Roy Mustang, later on becoming his adjutant. She was muscular for a woman, although not grotesquely so, as she still retained all of her womanly appeal. She stood at five-foot seven and wore her long blonde hair bound up and in a hair-clip, which caused her hair to look somewhat reminiscent of the tail-feathers of a bird. The hair that was not in the hair-clip, was slicked to the side of her head, giving her an almost tomboyish appearance. This was only accentuated by the blue military uniform that she wore.

"Sir, the Elrics and Mr. Uzumaki have left the building and are on their way to Mr. Tucker's estate," informed Riza.

"Thank you," said Mustang. He then reached into his desk and pulled out his alchemists' watch, "Riza, I need you to go to East Library and find any records regarding Mr. Uzumaki."

He handed Riza the watch. She nodded, before saluting and leaving the office. After the door to the office closed, Mustang grabbed his phone and spun the dial on it. He placed the receiver to his ear, listening to the ringing of the phone. A moment later, the sound of someone picking up the phone came through and a female voice sounded from the other side.

"This is Roy Mustang," spoke out Mustang. After a moment he smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Yes, this is really me; I would like to speak with Madam Christmas,"

XxX

"Wow!" exclaimed Ed, "This place is huge!"

Ed, Al, and Naruto were walking up to one of the largest houses in East City, belonging to the acclaimed alchemist Shou Tucker. The house had one main building, with two extensions flanking either side.

After a few seconds, the trio reached the front doors of the mansion. The house could be nothing less. Ed walked forward and grasped the large, brass door knocker and slammed it three times against the oak of the door. After knocking, Ed stepped back to wait.

When it became apparent that no one had heard the knock, Ed stepped forward and reached out to grab the knocker again. While Ed was doing that however, Naruto noticed a sound come rushing up from behind him. Naruto dodged on instinct, stepping to the side and crouching, evading his assailant, which just happened to be a massive white dog. It also just happened that instead of pouncing on Naruto, the dog collided with Ed and sent him careening into the floor.

"Ahhgh! Get it off me!" cried out Ed, struggling to get out from under the large dog. Al and Naruto bent down to try and get Ed out from under the dog, when a childish laugh drew their attention elsewhere. At the entrance to the property were a little girl, who was the one laughing, and her father Shou Tucker.

"Look Daddy!" cried out the little girl, "We have company!"

Tucker looked at the group sheepishly as he walked up to them, hand-in-hand with his daughter. Tucker was a lanky man of average height, whose hair had receded leaving a small tuft at the top. He had a somewhat gaunt face, and wore a pair of wire-framed spectacles. He also perpetually wore a small smile on his face. He had on khaki pants, and a black undershirt with a green dress shirt over it.

Tucker's daughter, on the other hand, was a small sweet-looking girl who couldn't be more than five or six. She had her father's brown hair, which was worn in a braid down her back. She also had deep blue eyes, which showed nothing but the innocence of a child. Nina wore a small red shirt and blue shorts.

"This is why we keep the dog leashed, Nina," admonished Tucker, grasping the dog by the collar and pulling. When the dog was off, Ed got up and brushed his coat off, looking very annoyed. Naruto and Al's chuckling behind him wasn't helping his situation either.

"I'm sorry about Alexander," apologized Tucker, who walked forward and pulled out a small key to unlock the oak doors, "He has a habit of jumping up on people that he hasn't met." Tucker then placed his daughter on Alexander's back and opened the front doors, leading the dog inside. When both Alexander and Nina were inside the house, Tucker closed the door and turned to address the three.

"Now then, I believe introductions are in order," stated Tucker, reaching into his shirt and revealing a large silver watch "I am Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist,"

In response, Ed stepped forward, reached into his coat, and pulled out an identical watch.

"I am Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." Ed then extended his hand, which was grasped by Tucker, "It's a pleasure to meet such an acclaimed bio-alchemist as yourself, Mr. Tucker,"

"Likewise," replied Tucker. Tucker then looked at Al, before extending his hand.

"I'm Alphonse Elric," stated Al, grabbing Tucker's hand. Tucker nodded, before turning toward Naruto.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki,"said Naruto, extending his hand. Tucker looked at Naruto for a moment, before grasping his hand.

"If I may ask, Mr. Uzumaki, what do you do for a living?" inquired Tucker.

"Well, I'm a traveling historian," stated Naruto. He then pulled out a small orange book and handed it to Tucker, "I also happen to be a writer. This is a copy of my first book,"

Tucker looked at the title, "Make Out Paradise!" before shrugging and flipping a few pages into the book. After a few minutes, he slowly grew red, before letting out a chuckle. Tucker then handed the book back to Naruto, who refused to take it.

"Keep it as my sample book."

Tucker nodded, before tucking (no pun intended) the book into his back pocket. He then turned around and opened the door, entering his house and gesturing for the trio to come in. They followed Tucker through what seemed to be a hallway that went straight through the entire house. Many doors lined this hallway, but most were closed and somewhat dusty. At the end of the hallway was a split stairway that led both right and left, although the left one was blocked by yellow caution tape.

Tucker turned slightly towards them, once again looking sheepish. "Sorry that the place looks so rough. My wife left Nina and me three years ago, and I just haven't been really able to clean the place since." Tucker gestured to the obvious dust and sparse pieces of trash that lined the hallway.

After Tucker said that, Ed and Al crept up next to Naruto.

"Why didn't you tell us you are a writer?" whispered Ed.

"What do you write about?" inquired Al, whispering as well.

"Well," started Naruto, pulling out another orange book, "why don't you take a look. But be warned, it's not for everybody,"

Ed grasped the book, turning a few pages, his brother leaning down to look over his shoulder. After a few minutes of reading however, the brothers began blushing, (or in Al's case, looking as flustered as possible). Not a moment later, Ed tossed the book down onto the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS TRASH!?" cried out Ed, backing away from the book comically, as if it were the very spawn of Satan himself.

Tucker, who was in front of them and had been completely oblivious to the conversation occurring behind him, turned around and looked at Ed with confusion.

"What seems to be the problem?" inquired Tucker, looking to Naruto for answers. But he only found Naruto bent over, laughing at the elder Elric's reaction. He then looked to Al, but Al was just standing frozen in place, his eleven-year old mind still contemplating what he just read.

Naruto stopped laughing after a few minutes and bent down to pick up the copy of his book. After seeing the book, Tucker placed the pieces together and figured out the situation. He walked up to Al and knocked on his armor a few times to snap him out of his reverie. Ed looked at Naruto with distaste.

Naruto looked at Ed, before shrugging, "Hey, a man has got to make money somehow. It just so happens that the market for my _style_of literature has little competition and lots of profit."

Ed looked at Naruto sourly, before shaking his head and looking toward Tucker, who had successfully revived Al. Tucker glanced at the two Elrics, then turned and continued leading them down the hallway. After a few minutes, he turned left, opened one of the numerous doors of the estate, and entered his living room. Said room had a long table in the center but was surprisingly small, given the size of the rest of the estate. Tucker gave the trio a seat, before leaving to get some tea for them all.

He returned to a tense silence amongst the trio. Ed was staring harshly at Naruto, Naruto was smiling at Ed, and Al was sitting with a large blush on his face (once again, metaphorical blush).

Tucker coughed, gaining their attention, before walking up to the table and placing a tray of tea in the center. After that, Tucker took a seat across from the three and laced his hands in front of his face, giving them a contemplative look.

"So, Ed, why are you here? Mustang said you had an interest in bio-alchemy?" inquired Tucker, taking a sip of his tea.

"Well, the reason we are hear is…somewhat personal," replied Ed, a sad note entering his voice.

"Ed," began Tucker, "I am willing to share all that I know, but you need to do the same. That is the rule that we alchemists live by after all; equivalent exchange,"

"Brother," stated Al, worry lacing his voice. Ed held up his hand to silence his brother.

"It's all right Al," replied Ed, locking eyes with Tucker. "Mr. Tucker, I must ask that you keep this between the four of us. What I tell you must not leave this room," Ed then sent an inquiring gaze at Naruto, who nodded.

"Okay," stated Ed to himself, getting out of his seat. After that, he grasped the white glove on his right hand, lifting it off to reveal a metal, auto-mail hand.

Auto-mail is an advanced prosthetic, much more maneuverable then wood and in many ways superior to their fleshy counterparts. Ed then grabbed his red coat, stripping it off his torso and revealing the black undershirt he wore and a completely metal arm.

Tucker's and Naruto's eyes were very wide open, surprised at seeing one as young as Ed have such extensive auto-mail. Al on the other hand, was looking down into his tea, sadness emanating from his body. Ed pulled the chair out from the table, putting his left leg onto to the table and pulling up his pant leg, revealing even more auto-mail. Ed then slid down his pant leg, before putting his jacket back on and sitting back down.

He leaned his head down and put his hands on his forehead, before sighing, "We were eight years old when our mother grew ill. She caught one of the plagues that swept the country during the Ishvalan war. At the time, we had just started learning alchemy and had found out how powerful it could be." Ed's face grew shadowed, as his thoughts became darker. "We lived in a small village to the south, and our only doctor had been called to out to the war. She died that December. After her death, Al and I thrust ourselves into our studies. In fact, I think it was only our studies that allowed us to endure the aftermath of her death. In the summer of 1908, we found a skilled alchemist who agreed to be our teacher,"

Ed stopped for a moment, stirring his tea slowly and sighing.

"We didn't know," stated Al, sadness lacing his voice, "we…just wanted to see our mother again."

Tucker placed his hand on his chin, frowning. "Human transmutation," stated Tucker, taking a sip of his tea, "the one taboo."

Ed nodded, sighing. "That summer, we attempted human transmutation,"

"Wait," interjected Naruto, giving Ed a harsh glare, "You attempted to bring the dead back to life?!"

Ed looked down, before nodding, "Yes."

Naruto shuddered, before looking down, placing his face into his hands and sighing. "What were the results?" inquired Naruto.

Tucker leaned forward in his chair, eager to hear Ed's response.

"Complete failure," replied Ed.

At that, Tucker's eyes lost some of their sparkle and Naruto let out another sigh, "When it was all settled and done, our result didn't even look human. And there was a great price for even that deformed corpse. I lost my arm and leg … and Al lost his entire body."

"I see," replied Tucker, draining his tea cup in the process. "Ed, I thank you for sharing your story. I really don't have much that I can offer that will help. But why don't you take a look at my laboratory,"

Tucker then got up and left the living room, once again entering the large hallway. He turned right, heading toward the front door and walked until he reached a large set of heavy double doors. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, which he used to unlock the doors.

"Be prepared, they get a little jittery around new people," stated Tucker, turning toward the trio, who had followed him out of the living room. Then he pushed open the double doors, filling the hallway with the screeching of the multitudes of chimeras contained inside Tucker's laboratory.

Tucker walked inside, reaching to his left as he did, flipping on a light switch and illuminating the room. Lining all the walls in the laboratory were over a hundred cages filled with various chimera. The only place that was not occupied by a cage was a space at the back of the room that contained an old desk. Some of the chimeras were very small, being no larger than a mouse, while the biggest was a chimp that was near the desk.

Although the chimeras looked vastly different from each other, they all shared one characteristic that set the group on edge, Naruto in particularly. The chimeras, no matter what they were, all appeared completely and utterly unnatural.

Tucker walked to the desk in the back of the room and pulled out a clipboard and pencil. He then turned around and looked at the group, who was still standing in the doorway of his laboratory, and gestured for them to come in. The trio entered and began and studying the different creatures.

"If I may ask," began Ed, gaining Tucker's attention, "How does one create a chimera? I've looked into it, but I have never actually found a straight answer,"

"Well," began Tucker, putting his hand up to his chin, "I guess the textbook definition would be the combining of one or more dissimilar organisms through alchemy, creating a new organism that usually has the attributes of its 'component parts,' although that is at the alchemist's discretion. The technique generally used by bio-alchemists involves placing the component subjects on two or more separate transmutation arrays and breaking down the organism into its cellular units, before using the cells to then, in essence, build a completely new being. However, that technique has quite a few flaws, first among them being the fact that the alchemist performing the transmutation needs to know the exact anatomy of the organisms. This leads to specialization, where a bio-alchemist will spend his entire life focusing on the physique of specific organisms, limiting the options the alchemist has on what he can create. Another byproduct of dissolving an organism is that it loses all knowledge of its previous self. I cannot tell you how many great bio-alchemists died because the chimera panicked in its new environment."

Ed nodded in comprehension, before looking around himself and seeing the vast diversity in the chimeras inside the laboratory. Ed was about to question Tucker again, but his brother beat him to it.

"You must use a different technique then," stated Al, gesturing to all the different types of chimeras around them.

Tucker nodded. "You would be correct Alphonse. My technique works around both of these problems. Instead of dissolving the component organisms into their cellular state and manipulating their creation from there, I put them into one array and merge them directly, letting their own anatomies decide where they should place themselves." Ed's eyes opened in surprise when Tucker said this.

"That's insane!" cried out Ed, "That's like having two trains crash into each other and hoping that they make a bigger train,"

Tucker shrugged. "While I must admit that my way transmuting does not have as much finesse as the one that is generally used by the state, it does work around both of the major problems that have plagued Bio-alchemists since Amestris's conception and is the only method that has yet to produce a known speaking chimera,"

"I guess," replied Ed, shaking his head, before turning back to the rabbit-dog hybrid creature that he had been looking at prior to the conversation. Tucker just shrugged, before walking up to a cage near his desk, one that contained a chimp.

Tucker knelt down so that he was at the chimps eye-level. He held up his hand and got the chimps attention, before moving his hands in some form of sign language. The chimp apparently seemed to understand Tucker, signing back to him. Tucker smiled, then signed some more, before placing his hands on his lips. The chimp looked confused, then it started screeching very loudly, hurting the group's ears and agitating the other animals in the room. Soon the room was a cacophony of noise worse than when they had initially entered, as all the animals joined the chimp. The noise got so loud that the group was forced to leave. After Tucker closed the doors, the sound died down substantially.

Tucker relocked the room, before sighing and leaning against the door. He sighed again, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head, almost as if in defeat.

"You know, Ed" began Tucker, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Despite my clunky way of transmutation, I am regarded as one of the leading bio-alchemists in Amestris. But in truth, I haven't actually accomplished much since my initial talking chimera and I have never even been able to recreate it. That is one of the major rules of science, the ability to recreate ones experiment so that others may critically analyze it." Tucker sniffled and almost looked as if he were going to cry.

Al leaned down and put his hand on Tuckers shoulder, patting it reassuringly. "You can do it Mr. Tucker," stated Al, "I know it. After all, anything can be created again once we know it can be done in the first place."

Tucker looked down, before looking up and smiling slightly, "Thanks Al." Tucker then leaned off the door, before turning down the hallway, this time toward the staircase. "Come on, I have one more thing to show you guys,"

He turned right up the stair way and led them to another hallway, although this one was much shorter than the previous. Tucker walked all the way down to the end, where a pair of heavy oak doors were located, looking much like the oak doors to Tucker's laboratory. Tucker walked up to the doors, turning to look at the group behind him, before opening them to reveal a room almost completely filled with tall bookshelves packed with books.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ed and Al together, gazing at the library in awe.

Naruto looked at the collection, nodding in appreciation. "This is quite the collection Mr. Tucker; it must have taken you a while to collect."

"Yes, although most of it is actually my previous teacher's collection. I have just been adding to it when I can." Tucker then turned toward the brothers and pointed to one of the nearer book shelves, "Those shelves contain all of my research, the rest of the books are the collective works of several great bio-alchemists as well as some of the more advanced theories on alchemy itself. You are free to read as you like. If you need anything, I will be down the hall in my study." Tucker turned and left, going down the hall and entering what was, presumably, his study.

Ed nodded, before rushing towards the nearest book he could get his hands on. "Al, I've got this shelf," stated Ed, pulling out a thick tome and opening it, then sitting down on the floor. Al walked over to the shelf with Tucker's notes on it. "I've got this shelf, brother," replied Al, pulling out the first in a number of books containing Tucker's research.

Naruto on the other hand, just stood in the door way, watching as the brothers slowly immersed themselves in the world of alchemy. After awhile, Naruto grew bored and stretched, then waived to the unresponsive duo. "I'm gonna go do…something, see ya guys later." Naruto then turned around and started walking down the hallway, not waiting for a response he knew would never would come.

Naruto walked down the stairs and made his way towards the house's exit, but stopped when he heard childish laughter coming from the living room. He opened the door and chuckled at what he saw.

The little girl, Nina, Tucker's child, was riding her large dog Alexander like a horse all around the living room. She stopped however when she heard Naruto's chuckle. She looked at Naruto for a moment, confused, before laughing and riding Alexander over to Naruto. She rode right up until she was directly in front of Naruto, before looking up at him.

"Who are you?" she inquired.

"Well," Naruto thought for a moment, before a smile engulfed his face, _This is for you Sensei, he thought. _ "I go by many names, I am the Wandering Sage, the Paragon of Perverts everywhere, loved by women and feared by all else, I am NARUTO UZUMAKI!" While he was saying this, Naruto started doing a kabuki dance that flowed along with his words. Nina, on the other hand, became even more confused.

"Okay … well Mr. Sage man, can you play with me?" inquired Nina, albeit a little hesitantly. Naruto gave a gentle smile, before nodding and kneeling down so that he and Nina were eye level.

"So, what do you wanna play?" Nina looked at Naruto confused, before tilting her head to the side in a thinking pose, making her look extremely adorable.

"I don't really know, normally I just play with Alexander," replied Nina, looking dejected. Naruto chuckled, before rubbing her head.

"Well, Nina, I know a game we could play," Nina looked up, extremely happy that Naruto would still play with her, despite the fact that she did not think of a game.

"What is it?!" exclaimed Nina.

Naruto laughed wholeheartedly at her eagerness, before standing up.

"Where I come from, kids play a game called ninja." Naruto, started to walk towards the front door, Nina following along and listening to Naruto's explanation of the game.

"One person, the ninja, hides as best as he can, while the others try to capture him. If the ninja captures a pursuer however, that pursuer is 'dead' and cannot let the other pursuers know where the ninja is. The game is over when the ninja has outlasted the pursuers, the pursuers successfully capture the ninja, or the ninja successfully captures all the pursuers,"

Naruto opened the front door and led Nina outside. He walked to the middle of the yard before turning and looking down. "Did you get all that?" asked Naruto.

Nina looked at Naruto, once again confused, before nodding slowly.

"It's just like hide and seek, but with tag!" Naruto laughed at the girl's simple explanation, before nodding.

"Something like that."

"Can Alexander play?" inquired Nina, looking up at Naruto impishly. Naruto nodded, and Nina laughed childishly.

"Now Nina, I am going to count to sixty. You and Alexander hide or try to set up any traps for me."

With that said, Naruto sat down and leaned back onto the grass, closed his eyes and began counting to sixty.

XxX

Naruto and Nina were next to each other, lying on their backs. They had just spent the last three hours playing, and Nina was now quite exhausted and decided to rest.

"_Nina is pretty good,"_thought Naruto, _"She could have competed with kids from my time."_

Naruto turned to look at Nina, who was playing with Alexander's great ears and laughing whenever the dog would turn to lick her.

"So, did you have fun Nina?" inquired Naruto.

The little girl just smiled, before nodding vigorously. "Yes. I am going to show Daddy that game. Then he will have to play with me."

Naruto's smile dimmed as he heard the forlorn sound in the girl's voice. "I guess Mr. Tucker doesn't spend a lot of time with you."

Nina nodded, curling up on her side and hugging one of Alexander's large paws.

"He spends most of his time up in his study. But that's okay, because Daddy is working hard on his alchemy and that is what is important."

Naruto frowned, not liking the sound of that. He turned away from Nina and looked into the sky, watching as its colors turned red as the day started coming to an end. He turned back to Nina, watching as she slowly stroked Alexander's fur and hugged him, looking sad as she did so.

"Hey, Nina," began Naruto, gaining Nina's attention, "how about we go on inside and check out the Elric brothers?" Nina looked at Naruto, once again confused, just as she had been many times earlier that day. Naruto got the hint and sat up, before explaining.

"The Elric Brothers are the two people that came with me,"

Nina then nodded, before smiling.

"Do you think they'll play ninja with us?" inquired Nina, climbing onto Alexander's back. Naruto only shrugged, before heading toward the house.

"Let's go find out."

XxX

"Wow," whispered Nina, "They've read so many books!"

Naruto nodded in agreement. At the moment, both he and Nina were looking around the corner of the doorway into the library. The two had decided to try to prank the brothers; however the brothers were so immersed in their books that setting up a prank wouldn't even be a challenge. Ed and Al were sitting on opposite sides of the library; each having their own small mountain of books surrounding them.

Naruto looked down at Nina, before whispering something in her ear. She let out a small giggle, before climbing onto Alexander's back and entering the library, skirting around its edge. Naruto waited for a moment, before entering and walking up to Ed, who was still too immersed in his book to even notice Naruto. Naruto reached down and plucked the book out of Ed's hands, before lifting it high in the air, out of Ed's reach.

Ed just sat there for a moment, not computing what just happened, before looking up at Naruto who was smirking. Ed leapt up and tried to get the book out of Naruto's hands, but Naruto just raised it higher.

"What the hell! Give me back my book damnit!" Ed clapped his hands together and was about to place them on the floor, when a shadow appeared over him. He looked up just in time to see Nina riding Alexander, who then proceeded to land on him, pinning him under the great dog's weight.

Ed struggled a little bit, eventually able to get his head out far enough to look up at Naruto, who was struggling not to laugh.

"Naruto…what…the…hell?" wheezed out Ed. By this time, Al had gotten up from his reading and walked over to stand next to Naruto. Al, unlike Naruto, was laughing quite hard at his brother's misfortune.

"I don't know Ed? What are you asking?" inquired Naruto, quite amused.

Ed looked up at Naruto murderously, before trying to get out from under the dog.

Naruto chuckled and patted Nina on the head.

"Nina, I think Ed has been bullied enough."

Nina laughed, before nudging Alexander forward, moving the great dog off of Ed. Once he was able, Ed leapt up and lunged for Naruto. Naruto sidestepped Ed, grabbing him around the waist as he did, to prevent the Elric from crashing into one of the numerous bookshelves.

"Come on Ed, you gotta look at your surroundings before making decisions," chided Naruto. Ed looked up at Naruto, even more annoyance in his eyes than before. "You could have seriously messed up Mr. Tucker's library,"

"Whatever, Naruto. Could you put me down?!" asked Ed.

Naruto chuckled, before placing Ed down. Ed looked at Naruto, annoyed, before walking over to Al and leaning on his brother's metal body.

"So, Naruto, what do you want?" inquired Ed. Naruto looked at Ed, before reaching his hand down and patting Nina on the head, who just laughed.

"Well, Nina, why don't you tell Ed what you were thinking?"

Nina looked up at Naruto, before looking at Ed. She got off of Alexander, walked up to Ed, and bowed.

"Mr. Ed, Mr. Al, could you play ninja with us?" Ed looked down at Nina, then looked up at Naruto, confused.

"What is ninja?" inquired Al.

Naruto smiled, before crossing his arms.

"Why don't you join us and find out?" said Naruto.  
Ed frowned, before kneeling down and grabbing Nina's shoulders.

"I'm sorry Nina, but we didn't come here to . . . " Nina didn't wait for Ed to finish, instead rushing back to Alexander and hopping onto his back. She urged Alexander forward and before Ed could do anything, he found himself pinned, once again, under the great dog.

"Aahh!" cried out Ed, "What the hell! Get it off me!"

Nina shook her head, looking down at Ed and sticking her tongue out.

"Not until you say you'll play with me,"

Ed looked up at Nina indignantly, he then looked up at Naruto when he heard him chuckling.

"She's running a hard case, Chief," said Naruto.

Ed sighed in defeat, "Okay, okay, I guess Al and I can play with you . . . "

"And Alexander," interjected Nina.

"and Alexander, for a while, but then we'll really need to get back to work."

"Yeeeeeaah!" cried out Nina in joy. She urged Alexander off Ed.

As Ed was getting up however, there was a knock on the door of the library. The door opened to reveal tall blonde man in military garb. He was flanked by Mr. Tucker, who was smiling bashfully.

"Hey, Chief," spoke out the blonde man, "What are you doing down there?"

"I was taking a break from a long day of research I guess," replied Ed, brushing the great dog's hair off his pants.

"Well, your ride is here," said the blonde man. Ed looked up at the blonde man, before sighing and turning towards Nina.

"Sorry Nina, I guess we'll have to play another time," said Ed.

Nina looked dejected, but nodded.

"Don't worry Nina," spoke Tucker, "Ed, and Al are coming back tomorrow to continue their research."

Nina's face lit up in happiness as she heard that, before running up to Naruto and looking up at him.

"You are going to come back too, right?" Naruto laughed, before smiling and nodding. Nina jumped up in joy, and ran to Mr. Tucker, who picked her up and placed her on his shoulder.

"Come on you four," spoke Tucker, turning and heading down the hallway, "I'll walk you out."

They followed Tucker to the front door, where Tucker stepped aside and let them walk past. He waved them through and was about to close the door when the blonde man seemed to remember something. He turned around and addressed Tucker.

"By the way, the colonel wanted me to remind you that examination day is in a week. Good luck!" With that said, the blonde man turned and made his way toward the car that would drive the Elrics and Naruto to their lodgings for the night.

"Daddy," rang out Nina's voice from Tucker's shoulder, "what is examination day?"

"Well," replied Tucker, closing the front door, "Every year, state alchemists have to report on their research if they wish to keep their certification. Daddy did not do so well last year, so this year I have to provide something extraordinary, or else your daddy will not be a state alchemist anymore,"

Tucker then felt Nina's arms wrap around his head and hug him.

"You can do it daddy, I know you can, you're always studying so hard,"

Tucker took Nina from her place on his shoulders and embraced her in a tight hug.

"You're right Nina. I just have to try harder." Tucker then closed his eyes and let a single tear fall.

XxX

"So, Nina, is it just you and your Dad who live here," inquired Al, flipping the page of his book.

"Yeah, Daddy said that I have a Mommy, but she left three years ago," replied Nina. She was sitting with her back to Alexander, who was curled protectively around her.

"It must be pretty lonely around here then," said Naruto, who was sitting with his back leaned against Al. He was writing in a notebook, putting his pencil up to his mouth every so often to think. The notebook's title was "Research".

"Well, lately Daddy has been in study a lot, but it's okay, I have Alexander! I guess I am a little lonely though," replied Nina, her voice going somber near the end of her reply.

The group became quiet, thinking about what Nina had said. A moment later, Ed snapped his book shut, before standing up and stretching.

"My shoulders are absolutely killing me," complained Ed, rubbing his right shoulder with his hand.

"Perhaps you should move around brother," suggested Al, closing his book as well.

"Yeah, you're right. Hey you!" cried out Ed, pointing at Naruto, "I need to get you back for pranking me the other day,"

Naruto chuckled, before slipping his pencil and notebook into his coat.

"Is that a challenge, Ed?" inquired Naruto, getting a competitive look on his face.

"Hell, Yeah!" Naruto smiled, before turning to Nina.

"So, Nina, how should we settle our dispute?" Nina got a blank look on her face, before slowly smiling and giving a joyous laugh.

"Let's play ninja!" she cried out, mounting Alexander and riding him out of the library.

Ed and Al looked at Naruto confused.

"What is ninja?" inquired the brothers simultaneously.

Naruto laughed, before making his way out of library.

"Well, you have thirty minutes…"

XxX

Ed exhaled slowly, trying to keep the noise he was making to a minimum. He was currently located very high in one of the many trees on Tucker's property. He was attempting to hide from the searching eyes of the freakishly observant Naruto, going so far as to even transmute the color of his jacket from red to green and cover his face with green paint. After nearly thirty minutes of not being found, Ed moved out near the edge of the branch, and look down, just to be sure that he wasn't found. He then let out a sigh of relief when he didn't see anybody climbing. He leaned back, wanting to wait out his last few moments of hiding in silent celebration. He was surprised however, when he felt something soft, instead of the hard bark of the tree that he was expecting.

"Boo," Ed's eyes widened in shock as he let out a yell of frustration, before flailing about and nearly falling out of the tree.

Ed turned around, to see Naruto on an adjacent branch. The soft thing Ed had leaned back onto was Naruto's jacket, which he had spread across the branches and was laying his head in to rest.

"WHAT THE HELL NARUTO!" cried out Ed thrusting his hands up in frustration. This however, caused Ed to overbalance and fall backwards. Right as Ed was about fall however, Naruto's hand streaked forward and grabbed Ed by his shirt collar, pulling him back up to safety.

"Come on Ed, what have I been saying for the last week?" chided Naruto.

Ed sighed, before rolling his eyes.

"Be aware of my surroundings," recited Ed, mechanically. Ed then looked at Naruto with a wary eye, before leaning forward and putting his chin on his hand, "How'd you find me this time?"

Naruto smiled, before leaning back smugly.

"You transmuted your jacket _under _the same tree you were hiding in," said Naruto.

Ed groaned in frustration, before shaking his head.

"So, did you find the others?"

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I found Al about eight minutes in and I found Nina around the twenty minute mark,"

Ed smirked, happy that at least he was the last to be found. "So, I won!"

Naruto barked out a laugh, before shaking his head, "No, you just didn't lose as badly."

Ed pouted at that, but was shaken from his sullen thoughts when a loud alarm sounded.

"Hey!" cried out the voices of Alphonse and Nina, who came rushing out of the house, "Times up!"

Naruto chuckled, before collecting his coat and beginning his climb down. Ed sighed, joining Naruto. Soon they were all regrouped in front of Tucker's house, with Nina riding on top of Alexander and Ed leaning up against Alphonse, who was currently fiddling with the feather on his headpiece. Naruto looked up into the orange sky, before shaking his head.

"I think we should head in Nina. Ed, Alphonse, and I are going to have to leave soon they still need to collect their things,"

Nina nodded in acceptance, before yawning and leaning forward onto Alexander. Naruto looked at the Elric brothers. Naruto then waved his hand in front of Alexander's face to get the great dog's attention. The dog sniffed Naruto's hand, before licking it and looking up at him, almost as if looking for instruction.

Naruto did not say anything, instead heading towards the front door of Tucker's house, Alexander obediently following. Naruto reached the front door and was about to open it, when the door opened by itself to reveal Tucker on the other side.

"Oh!" exclaimed Tucker, surprised to see the group he was going out to search for standing right on the other side of the door, "I was just about to come and look for you. I have finished my study for today, and since this is last day you three are going to be here, I thought I'd invite you in for some tea,"

Naruto smiled, before looking back at Ed, who was also smiling at the thoughtful gesture.

"Sure," replied Naruto, causing Tucker to smile, "We'd love some tea,"

"Oh lovely," replied Tucker. He then held open the door for everyone and led them to his living room, much like how they had met at the beginning of the week. They even sat in the same seats, with Ed, Al, and Naruto on one side, and Tucker on the other. After Tucker brought them their tea, they all sat in relative silence, unable to bring up a topic. The only sound was an occasional laugh from Nina as she played with Alexander on the floor.

"Mr. Tucker," began Al, getting the aforementioned persons attention.

"Yes Al?"

"If I may ask, why did your wife leave you and Nina?"

Mr. Tucker didn't respond immediately, instead choosing to sip on his tea.

"Well, Al, there is something you must understand," began Tucker, breaking the sentence with another sip of tea, "Before I acquired my State Alchemist certification, our lives were terrible. We were so poor then, and…I guess my wife just couldn't live like that, so…she left." Mr. Tucker sighed, before taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked up again after a moment and replaced his glasses, before continuing, "I can't afford to fail tomorrow's assessment. I don't think I could bear living like that again … and I don't want that life for Nina,"

Nina then turned and faced her father. "Don't worry Daddy," she cried out, climbing on top of Alexander, "If those people do tell you no, then me and Alexander are gonna growl at them until they say yes," she emphasized the last bit of her sentence by doing her best imitation of growling, Alexander joining in with her.

"That'll do it Nina," encouraged Alphonse, laughing with everyone else at the girl's childishly naïve, but nevertheless, adorable statement.

Tucker smiled sadly, looking down into his tea, before seemingly getting an epiphany. He looked over at Nina for a moment, before smiling.

"Nina," began Tucker.

"Yes?"

"How would you like to play with Daddy tomorrow?" Nina looked at her father, before smiling very widely, ecstatic that she would get to help her Dad.

"Really!" exclaimed Nina.

Tucker smiled, nodding. Nina leapt off of Alexander's back and engulfed Tucker in a hug, crying "Whoohoo!" as she did so.

The group smiled as they watched the heartfelt scene, when a ring was heard throughout the house, heralding the end of the Elric's stay at Tucker's home. Ed, Al, And Naruto got up and bowed to Tucker, who smiled in return.

Ed reached across the table and shook Tucker's hand, smiling as Nina reached out and touched their hands too.

"Thank you very much for letting us review your research Mr. Tucker," said Ed. "You are a very talented Alchemist and I am glad to have met you. Good luck on the exam tomorrow. I am sure you'll do fine,"

Tucker nodded, turning to Al and Naruto and extending a hand to them. Al grasped his hand and thanked him, much like his brother.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Tucker, I wish you luck on your exam," Naruto broke his handshake with Mr. Tucker, before looking at Nina, who seemed slightly sad.

"Nina, remember what I said?" asked Naruto.

Nina nodded her head, before reciting, "Be aware of your surroundings for you never know when it might save your life."

Naruto nodded, before pulling out a small red ribbon.

"I got this for you, Nina, I hope you like it." He then walked around the table, bent down a little and wrapped the ribbon around Nina's forehead. "It's a good luck charm."

Nina looked up at Naruto, speechless, before jumping out of her father's arms and wrapping her own around Naruto's neck, giving him the strongest hug she could. Naruto wrapped his arms around her as well and hugged her tight.

"Make sure you guys visit soon," spoke out Nina, before letting go of Naruto's neck.

"We will," replied Naruto, "Right guys?" called out Naruto, addressing the brothers.

"Yes!" they replied in unison. The doorbell rang again, this time accompanied by a knock.

"Honey," spoke out Tucker, "It looks as if they need to get going, so finish saying your goodbyes,"

Nina nodded sadly, before walking over to Alphonse and Ed and hugging them both. After she finished, Ed kneeled down and grasped Nina by the shoulders the shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

"Nina, if you ever find yourself in trouble, and you don't know where to go, go to the big building in the center of the city and ask for Roy Mustang. If they won't let you see him, then tell them your big brother, Edward Elric, told you to go to him. You got that?"

Nina looked at Ed for a moment, before hesitantly nodding her head. Ed then stood up, ruffling her hair one last time, before turning and joining Al and Naruto, who had just started on their way towards the front door of the house.

The bell rang a third time, causing the trio to rush to the entrance, before the caller broke down the door. They opened the door to reveal the same blonde man that had picked them up on their first day, only this time, he was smoking a cigarette.

" 'bout time, I was just about to break down the door," spoke out the blonde man, smiling when he saw the exasperated faces of the Elric brothers.

"Oh, and when where you gonna do that, Havoc?" inquired Naruto, smirking at the man's attitude. Havoc, instead of responding, took a long deep drag of his cigarette, before throwing it on the ground and putting it out with his foot.

"Right when I had finished my cigarette," said Havoc.

Naruto laughed, before turning around and closing the front door behind him.

"Anyway, Ed, the colonel says he needs a written report on everything that you covered while researching, as well as any theories you may have come up with,"

Ed groaned, before nodding and asking, "Anything else?"

Havoc put his hand up to his chin in a thinking position, before shaking his head. "Nope, now come on you three, I have a date with Geraldine that I am not going to miss." With that said Havoc ushered them into his car and started driving them to their lodgings.

"Not another one Havoc," whined out Ed, "Just face it, you are bound for a single life!"

"I resent that Ed," cried out Havoc, "She's The One. I can feel it." Ed just shook his head, muttering about how this Geraldine is the Fifth One, not The One.

"Anyway, aside from Havoc's failing love life, what's up next?" asked Naruto.

Ed looked at Naruto for a moment, before shrugging. "I don't know, Central I guess, Al and I haven't been to the Central library's section on bio-alchemy, and they sure have a lot larger collection."

Naruto thought for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "When do you want to leave?"

"Tomorrow I guess, after I turn in my report to Mustang, I really don't need to anything else here," said Ed.

"Alright, then let's make sure to pop by Tuckers on our way out, we don't want to leave without first saying goodbye to Nina,"

Ed and Alphonse nodded in agreement. Naruto then leaned his head back against the headrest, before closing his eyes, dozing off a little as the brothers next to him began a long-winded conversation about the physical makeup of newts.

XxX

"What a dismal day to be leaving," stated Naruto, as he walked up to the door of Tucker's house. He looked up into the dark sky, feeling the first drops of water on his face as he knocked on the door.

The week had been, for the most part, sunny, so the rainclouds overhead were quite an unexpected change in atmosphere.

"Hey, at least it's only like this today, instead of the entire week," replied Al, always looking on the bright side of things.

"True, although I hope Nina isn't too sad that she won't be able to play with her Dad _outside_," commented Ed. Both Naruto and Al nodded, when Naruto knocked a second time. They waited a few minutes, before knocking a third time.

"Perhaps they went out?" suggested Al.

"No, not on a day as important as this, when Mustang could be coming around at any moment," stated Ed, backing up a little bit and seeing if any of the upstairs lights were on.

"Their car is also still here," remarked Naruto, frowning. Naruto reached forward and tried the door handle and was surprised when he found the front door unlocked. The trio walked in and took off their rain coats, placing them on the coat rack next to the door.

"Mr. Tucker! We're here to say goodbye to Nina, since we're leaving today," called out Ed. When no response came, they started walking slowly into house.

"Mr. Tucker!" he called, but once again there was no response.

They walked further down the hallway and passed by Tucker's chimera storage room, when they heard speaking coming from inside it. Naruto looked at the door, realizing that the chains that had been binding the door before were unlocked and were nowhere to be seen.

Ed grabbed the door handle to the chimera storage room and opened. The group braced themselves for the hellishly loud cacophony of noise that had assaulted them before, but were instead met with near silence.

As Ed opened the door further, light spilled into the room, revealing Tucker kneeled down next to a chimera, whispering something in its ear.

"Ah, Mr. Tucker, you are home," spoke out Alphonse, happy that something hadn't befallen Tucker.

Tucker turned towards them, surprised, before smiling and saying "I did it. I finally did it,"

Ed's and Naruto's eyes widened at what Tucker was saying.

"So, you managed to create a . . . "

"Yes, a chimera that can understand human speech and can talk just as we do." As he said that, Tucker stood up to reveal what looked to be a demented dog, with very long brown hair.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Ed and Al.

Tucker nodded in agreement, before getting an idea. "Here, why don't I show you?" Tucker then kneeled down and looked at the chimera in its eyes, "See those people over there?" inquired Tucker, pointing to the group.

The chimera nodded, garnering gasps of surprise from the two brothers.

"Well, the tall one, that is Alphonse," said Tucker.

The chimera looked at Al, before nodding and opening its mouth. "Tall one…Alphonse," spoke the chimera haltingly. Its voice, although understandable, was quite distorted and sounded like the combination of a human's voice and a dog's growl.

"Very good, and see the one in the black coat, that is Naruto, Na-Ru-To,"

The chimera looked over at Naruto, who was frowning.

"Black coat, Na…Naru…o," the dog apparently had a difficult time speaking T's.

"Very good," encouraged Tucker, he then pointed towards Ed, "That person there is Edward,"

The chimera looked up at Ed, before saying, "That person there…Edward,"

Tucker then patted the chimera on the head, before standing up and laughing with relief. "Now I don't have to worry about losing my certification!" Tucker then walked to wall of the room, which was devoid of cages, and leaned up against it.

Ed, on the other hand, was kneeling down so that he could see the chimera eye to eye. The chimera walked up to Ed, before nudging his hand.

"That person…Edward," spoke the chimera again, looking Ed in the eyes, "That person…Edward, Edw…ward…won' you play ninja with us, big brother?"

At that moment, the room became absolutely still, as Ed, Al and Naruto all simultaneously came to the same conclusion. Ed looked down at the chimera, before seeing in its deep blue eyes, the same innocence that was in the eyes of another residence of this house.

"Mr. Tucker," rang out Ed's voice, deathly hollow, "When was it that your wife left you?"

Tucker placed his hand on his chin, looking as if he were trying to recall something. "Oh, I'd say about three years ago," replied Tucker, a small smile on his lips.

"And when would you say you got your State Alchemist's certification?" the smile then left Tucker's lips, as he placed his hand into his jacket pocket.

"Also about three years ago," said Tucker. Suddenly a snapping noise could be heard, as Ed was squeezing his auto mail hand so tight that the metal was bending.

"I just have on more question to ask then, if you don't mind," asked Ed.

"Sure, go ahead," Ed suddenly looked up from the ground, to reveal tear-stained eyes, as he looked at Tucker with utmost hatred.

"Where are Alexander and Nina!?" suddenly, Tuckers face grew angered.

"Damn, freaking brat figuring it out so quickly," spoke Tucker to himself, more than to Ed, although that response was more than enough. Ed launched himself at Tucker, but was stopped mid-leap by Naruto grabbing his waist.

"You sick bastard! You transmuted your wife the last time you did it, and now you were going to do it again! It's easier to create a chimera that can speak when one of components ALREADY KNOWS ENGLISH!"

Ed tried to get at Tucker, but was still suspended by Naruto.

"Let go of me you bast-oomph!" Ed was unable to continue speaking, when Naruto suddenly squeezed Ed's stomach, forcing all of the air out of his chest. Naruto then dropped Ed, who started hacking and coughing from the ordeal.

"What have I always said?" came out Naruto's voice, although it was barely a whisper.

"What does that have to at all with this situation?" rasped out Ed, still wheezing from having all the air forcefully expelled from his lungs.

"Be aware of your surroundings," whispered out Naruto, once more, "Your little sister still considers that _thing _to be her father," enlightened Naruto, "If she sees you hurting Tucker, you'll be indirectly hurting her as well,"

Ed looked up at Naruto, and was thinking about lashing out at Tucker again, when his eyes connected with Naruto's. Naruto's eyes were deep pits of rage, so overwhelming, that even Ed's rage seemed to quell under the ocean that was Naruto's.

When Naruto was sure Ed was not going to physically abuse Tucker, he put him down and instead, fixed his gaze on Tucker. Naruto then released such an oppressive aura, that everyone in the room stood still, eyes transfixed on him.

"Tucker, there is a place in hell that is set aside for those who commit the most despicable of acts, a place below the seventh ring, where everlasting torment can't even begin to comprehended. When I am through with you, you'll wish you were there. And when I have you begging on what is left of your hands and knees for death's sweet release, I will not give it to you. I will make you suffer for as long as humanly possible, and then try to make you suffer longer,"

When Naruto finished, Tucker's knees buckled and he fell onto the floor in a fetal position, releasing his bodily fluids as he did so. Tucker then started muttering to himself about how, "At least gets to keep his state certification," and pulling out his watch, holding his watch protectively, as if it were his lifeline to reality.

Ed looked at Tucker in rage, before walking up to him and kicking the watch out of his hand.

"Like hell," whispered out Ed, "LIKE HELL YOU'RE GOING TO REMAIN AN ALCHEMIST AFTER THIS!" Ed then left the room, unable to bear being in the presence of Tucker and the transformed Nina.

Tucker started crawling toward the watch, desperately saying that he needed the watch to remain a state alchemist. When Tucker was about to reach his watch however, a knife flew from Naruto's hands, impaling the watch and causing multiple parts to fly in all directions. Tucker then started whimpering, before crying as he curled up in an unresponsive ball.

Al, who had been watching silently, then picked up chimera Nina and brought her into the hall, where she then walked up to Edward, who was sitting with his face in his hands and started nudging him.

"Edw…ard, can we play ninja now?"

Ed looked at Nina, before ruffling the chimera's hair, just like he had done with Nina the day before.

"I'm sorry Nina," replied Ed, disregarding the inquiry, "I'm sorry we can't change you back, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Ed then started to cry into his hands once more.

Nina just nudged Ed's hands some more. "Ed, can we play? Can we, Ed?"

Ed then looked up at the transformed Nina again, realizing that she would be like this for the rest of her unnatural life. It soon became too much for him, and before he knew what he was doing, he let out a loud, horrible, pain-filled scream that echoed throughout the house. At that moment, thunder sounded, and first moments of torrential downpour began.

XxX

Ed, Naruto, and Al were sitting on the front step of Tucker's home. None of them were talking, instead just embracing the cold rain that was falling as they thought of the atrocities that someone could commit.

"If there was ever a case of the Devil's work in this world," rang out the voice of Riza, as both she and Mustang exited Tucker's house, "Then this would be it."

Mustang stopped beside the trio, standing next to Ed, before looking up into the sky.

"The Devil," replied Mustang introspectively, "The State Alchemist must be willing to act, able to take another's life when ordered to and without question. In many ways, Mr. Tucker's actions and our own may not be that far apart when it comes to interfering with other's lives." Mustang then pulled out his own alchemists watch, looking down at it and opening it, "We choose our own path, knowing full well what we are doing and that's the way it is, right Fullmetal?"

Roy Mustang looked down at Ed, who was still unresponsive, before snapping his watch close and slipping it into his jacket.

"You will more than likely come across cases like this again in the future," said Mustang, as he began walking towards the door leaving the estate. "You may even have to get your own hands dirty in the process. If you are going to shut down like this every time, than you don't belong in the military,"

"We may be called the dogs of the military," replied Ed, looking up at the retreating back of Mustang, "We may even be cursed as devils," this caused Mustang to stop and turn, listening to what Ed had to say, "But Al and I, we are still going to get our bodies back."

Ed then looked up into the sky, letting the rain wash away his tears. "I know the truth Mustang. I know we are not devils. I know we are not gods. But damnit, we couldn't even save one little innocent girl. We…are human, damnit."

Ed then stood up, before crying out, "WE'RE ONLY HUMAN!" releasing all the pain and resentment he felt in that one scream, that was slowly eaten up the rain.

XxX

Tucker was sitting in his office, with the chimera Nina sitting across from him. He sighed before looking out into the rainy night sky. It hadn't stopped raining since Ed left and it didn't look like it would let up soon. Tucker then turned back to the chimera who had been Nina, before patting his knee, urging her to come forward.

"Why doesn't anyone understand Daddy, Nina?" inquired Tucker as Nina padded over to him, eventually resting her head on his knee. "I only did what was best for our family,"

Tucker petted the top of Nina's head, before a sound alerted them both to a third presence in the room. Tucker looked to the door to see a tall man standing there, although he was cloaked in shadow.

"Who are is there? You're not with military," said Tucker

The man then walked into the light, to reveal brown skin, white hair, and dark sunglasses. He wore a yellow, high-collared jacket with a white undershirt. The undershirt was stained with flecks of blood. His pants were a solid black, blending in with his black military combat boots. The most striking feature about this man however, was a great, white, "X" shaped scar going across his nose and face. The scar contrasted heavily with the man's otherwise brown skin.

"You are Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life alchemist, correct?" inquired the man.

Tucker started to become frightened when he saw the blood on the man's shirt, and quickly got up out of his chair and backed up to the wall of his office. "Who are you?! How did you get in?! There are military police outside!" cried out Tucker, becoming more frightened as the man slowly walked forward. The scarred man took his right hand out of his pocket, and stopped when he was within arm's reach of Tucker.

"Those foolish alchemists," began the man, "who stray from the Path of God and his divine creations, SHALL BE PUNISHED!" At that last statement, the man reached forward and grabbed Tucker's forehead. Not a moment later, blue alchemical light flared from the scarred man's hand and engulfed Tuckers body for a split second. Blood exploded from Tucker's body as every single cell inside him simultaneously burst.

The scarred man then looked toward the chimera, which had walked up to Tucker's corpse and was nudging his hand, attempting to elicit a response from the dead man. The scarred man kneeled down, placing a hand on Nina's back in consolation.

"You poor creature, once you've been turned this way, there is never a way of separating you back into your component parts." The scarred man then stood up, before walking in front of the chimera and looking it in the eyes.

"At least," the man placed his hand on Nina's head, "your passing, will be in peace."

XxX

**So, how was that?! I am really sorry for the late update, but the flashback in the beginning really had me stumped. I probably wrote and rewrote that section twelve times, before settling on what you see. It also hasn't been easy, what with the end of the year coming around and all. Finals are a bitch. Anyway, I really hoped you guys liked this chapter, cause sure as hell do.**

**And now, I must leave you, my glorious readers. See you around!**

**Salem52, signing off.**


	4. The Ones We Love

**Hey my Peeps! How's it going? This is Salem52, signing in. Last chapter got an excellent reception, so thank you for your support! It really helps.**

**Sorry for the late update, I've been in Canada for the last while, but fear not, I have been writing and I spent a great deal of time brainstorming new ideas with a good friend of mine.**

**To any of you that are wondering, I was up in a lovely place called white-rock, BC.**

**Now without further ado, I present you with the third Chapter.**

**For Those Who Remember**

Ed, Al, and Naruto were walking down the hallway towards Roy Mustang's Office in Eastern Command; an air of gloom was around them. The events of the previous day were still heavy on their consciousness, and they were going to Roy to see what would happen to Nina and Tucker.

The trio came up to Mustang's door and Ed was about to knock when the door opened to reveal Riza. Riza stopped and looked at the group, surprised, before straightening up and resuming her stoic demeanor.

"You guys are up early. What's the matter?" inquired Riza, turning around and locking Mustang's office door.

"We need to know," began Ed, solemnly, "what is going to happen to Tucker and Nina? They're not going to ship her off to some lab, are they?"

Riza looked as though she were surprised, before her eyes became sad, and she sighed.

"Mr. Tucker was going to be stripped of his rank and stand trial for what he did to Nina, but," she paused for a moment, "they've both been murdered,"

Al and Ed gasped, Ed's face became a picture of horror, as he learned that the little girl he couldn't save from a life as a chimera now had no life at all. Naruto, who had kept his head tilted down, not wanting to talk to anybody, was now looking fiercely at Riza.

"Who killed them?" inquired Naruto, his voice holding an extreme undertone of anger.

Riza shook her head, pushing her way through the trio as she did, and making her way down the hall.

"We don't know who killed them," replied Riza, slinging her blue military coat on over her shoulder. "I was just heading over to the scene now,"

"I shall accompany you," stated Naruto.

Riza stopped and looked at Naruto.

"Sir, I don't thin-" she stopped when she felt an oppressive aura emanating from Naruto, crushing her will to resist.

"Do not test me on this subject, I WILL accompany you." The aura then dispersed until only a small vibe of anger could be felt from Naruto. Riza stood still for a moment, before turning stiffly and resuming her walk down the hallway.

"W-we're coming to," came out Al's voice, although it sounded slightly frightened.

"No," replied both Naruto and Riza.

"Why not?!" inquired Ed, angrily. Naruto stopped, before turning around and leveling a hard gaze at Ed.

"Ed," began Naruto, "There are some things that you don't need to see; things that you will wish you had never seen and will haunt you for the rest of your life. Trust me, you don't want to see this."

Ed looked as if he were about to retort, but instead, he turned away and fell to his knees, tears coming down his face. Al knelt down next to his brother, putting his hand on Ed's back and rubbing, comforting his brother.

Naruto looked at the two for a moment, then turned and followed Riza, who was already at the stairwell going down to main floor. He caught up to her as she was leaving Eastern Command.

They continued to walk in relative silence all the way to Riza's car. It took Riza only a few seconds to get her car running and another few to get it onto the main road, heading towards the wealthy section, East City's residential district.

"That was a good thing you did," stated Riza, breaking the silence that had been between them since Naruto's outburst at Ed. Naruto shrugged.

"I am sure you would have done the same," replied Naruto, turning and looking out at the dark, rainy streets of East City.

Riza didn't reply, instead focusing on the road. After a while, the silence between the two went from being strained, to comfortable, as they both realized that the other preferred ths silence.

XxX

Naruto was standing near the doorway to Tucker's attic, where Tucker and Nina were supposedly killed. Apparently, he and Riza were the last ones to get to the scene, as the group already there were well into discussing the killer.

"He's is always one step ahead of us," said one of the men around the two corpses, frustrated. This man was about an inch under Naruto, although he was kneeling at the moment. He had brown hair and eyes, which were covered by a pair of small rectangular glasses that gave him a look of intelligence.

"We must find him quickly," replied another man, this one standing behind the first. The man, who replied, was by far, the most noticeable of all the people in the room. He stood at a freakishly tall seven and a half feet. He was also exceedingly muscular, having the build of only the most elite of body builders. His head was bald, except for a small blonde hair that stuck out in front, which curled on his forehead. "With the way things are going, we'll have a lot more dead bodies before this is over,"

"It sounds as though you were expecting this," stated a third man. The third man was none other than Roy Mustang himself. The kneeling man nodded, before standing up and heading towards the doorway, the tall, muscular man following behind him.

"We beli-"

It was at this moment that the trio of men actually noticed Naruto and Riza's presence in the room, having been engrossed in the conversation at hand.

"Sir," began the one with glasses, "I do not believe you have permission to be on these premises, I must ask you to le-"

"Don't worry colonel," interjected Riza, "He's with me."

The man looked over at Riza for a moment, then went back to examining Naruto. After a moment, he simply shrugged. Mustang coughed, gaining the man's attention.

"You were saying," stated Mustang.

"Well, we believe that the murder is by a serial killer known as Scar," stated the man.

Naruto and Riza followed the trio of men out of the room, leaving the forensics team in the attic to do their job.

"Scar?" inquired Roy, confused by the name.

"We don't have an actual name yet, and we have only been able to identify him as a man with tan skin and a large, cross-shaped scar across his face,"

"Why is he the main suspect?" inquired Naruto, stopping the three men in front of him. The man with the spectacles turned to Roy, who nodded, before turning to Naruto.

"Scar has been responsible for the confirmed murders of over six state alchemists, and the suspected murder of an additional three," said the man with the spectacles.

"Has he only been targeting state alchemists?" inquired Naruto, an urgency entering his voice.

"So far," replied the man.

Naruto's eyes widened, and before anyone knew what was happening, Naruto dashed down the stairs and out of the house, moving at inhuman speed.

Mustang, Riza, and the two men were gawking at the speed at which Naruto exited, not believing that a human could move so fast. The man with the spectacles was the first to break out of the stupor that Naruto's speed had left them in.

"What…just…happened?" inquired the bespectacled man.

"It seems…that man had realized something," replied Riza.

"What did he realize?" inquired the tall muscled man.

"We were talking about Scar," stated the bespectacled man, "then about his targets,"

"Which are state alch-" continued Riza, although she was cut off by Roy.

"Ed!" exclaimed Roy, rushing down the stairs as fast as he could, the tall man, Riza, and the bespectacled man following close behind.

XxX

_(Ten minutes earlier)_

Ed and Al were sitting on top of one of Eastern Command's numerous office buildings. The buildings, although not actually part of the Eastern Commands main building, usually held the majority of East City's military statistics workforce. The brothers were sitting on this particular building because it had a radio tower on it, which had a concrete base that was much more comfortable to sit on than the roof.

Ed was leaning against his brother, looking up at the rainy skies, not caring if any drops fell on him since he was already thoroughly soaked.

"Hey Al," said Ed, leaning off his brother and swinging his legs down so that he was sitting normally.

"Yes brother?" replied Al.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time," Ed started to swing his legs, his auto-mail one making a clanking sound every time it hit the concrete.

"What is it brother?" inquired Al, turning to look down at his brother.

"We've placed all of our faith and trust in alchemy, but really, what is it?" stated Ed, depressed. "We've been taught that alchemy is the science of understanding the flow of matter and its laws. The process of comprehension, deconstruction, and reconstruction; and the world flows too as it must also follow laws. Everything, no matter what, always circulates. Even death, is just a part of this circle. I thought I understood that, I truly did, but I didn't. Mom proves that." Ed then chuckled morbidly, "and now here we are, once again, trying to do figure out how to do the impossible."

Ed sighed, before looking up once again at the rain.

"I'm such a hopeless idiot, all this time, all this effort, all this _research_ and I haven't grown up one bit. I thought that, perhaps, this rain could wash away some of the gloom that is following us, but every drop that hits me just makes me even more depressed,"

Al turned away from Ed, before mimicking his brother and looking up at the sky, the rain making metallic _pings_ as it hit his armor.

"I don't even get that much," replied Al. "Without a body, I don't even get to feel the rain hit my face." Al then looked down at his brother, "That is something I miss. All the time I want to get my body back brother. I want it so badly it hurts,"

"You, boy," rang out a deep voice across the roof, "you are the Fullmetal alchemist, Edward Elric, correct?"

Ed looked up numbly to see a dark-skinned man in a yellow high collared jacket, with a scar crisscrossing his face. Ed didn't quite react when he saw the man reach his hand back and flex it, instead just watching as the man surreally launched his hand forward, intent on grabbing Ed's head.

Ed was shaken from his unresponsive state when his brother grasped his collar and yanked him to the side. A moment later, the scarred man's hand grasped the metal girder that had been directly behind Ed's head. Blue light erupted from the scarred man's hand and the metal girder started warping and twisting, before blowing apart in a shower of metallic shrapnel.

Ed and Al leapt back from the shower of metal, Ed pressing his hands together and placing them on the roof, raising a column of stone around the man and the exploding shrapnel.

"What the hell was that about," inquired Ed, breathing in deeply as the adrenaline started to kick in. Neither Ed nor Al had time to hear a response, as the column of stone exploded outwards, revealing the scarred man holding his arm out as though he had just pressed it against the stone.

The man brought his arm down before walking towards the brothers, kicking debris out of his way as he went. Ed didn't waste a second, turning and heading for the ladder that went down to street below.

"Come on Al, let's go!" yelled Ed, grasping the metal ladder and sliding his way down.

The scarred man walked to the edge of the roof, and looked down at the rapidly descending brothers. He placed his right hand on the metal of the ladder. Blue light erupted from the point of contact and raced down the ladder until it reached the place the Elrics, where the ladder then proceeded to explode outwards and launch the two brothers into the street below.

Fortunately, the brothers were only about twelve feet off the ground, and, with Ed having a superhuman arm and leg and Al being completely made of metal, there were no debilitating injuries. The two brothers then looked back up at the scarred man, only to gasp out in horror when they saw him slam his hand down on the office building. The entire office building was then engulfed in the crackling blue light of the scarred man's alchemy. The building started to shake and, not a moment later, the bottom floors of the building gave out, causing it to tilt forward and start crumbling down. The roof, however, stayed intact and the scarred man was clinging onto it and riding out the crumbling building. Right as the roof was about to impact the ground, the man jumped off of it, landing in the street roughly ten feet from the brothers.

The brothers then turned and sprinted as hard as they could, away from the scarred man who was quick in pursuit.

"What the hell is this guy's problem?!" cried out Ed, slamming his hands together and quickly stopping to touch the ground. A wall of stone rose up, but Ed didn't wait around, instead resuming his sprint. A moment later, an explosion could be heard and the brothers looked back to see the wall in pieces and the scarred man quickly catching up to them.

"What have I done to get this guy to want to kill me?!" cried out Ed in fear and frustration.

"Well, you haven't exactly been avoiding making enemies, brother," replied Al, who was a little ahead of Ed. Ed frowned in response, as both he and Al turned down a small alley that they both knew led to the main road. Before they could make it out however, blue light raced ahead of them and collapsed part of the building on the side of the alley, which blocked their escape. Ed and Al stopped, lest they be crushed by the falling rubble.

They turned around and looked at the scarred man, who was standing at the entrance to the alley.

"Why are you after us?!" cried out Ed, looking frightened.

"As long as there are creators like you in this world, there must also be destroyers like me," said the scarred man.

Ed placed his hands together, before grabbing a metal pipe sticking out of a piece of rubble with his right hand.

"Then it looks like we'll have to fight!" replied Ed, blue light erupting from his hand as he transmuted the pipe into a long machete type knife. He and Al then got up and simultaneously rushed the scarred man.

"You've got spirit kid," replied the scarred man, smiling, "But," the scarred man the twisted until his body was sideways, avoiding the two brother's attacks almost effortlessly, "you're too slow!" The scarred man then grasped Al's armor, right where his kidneys would have been. Blue light engulfed Al's suit, and a moment later, over half of it exploded into small metallic bits, much like the metal girder of the radio tower. Scar's eyes widened in surprise, however, when he saw the lack of body inside of the armor.

"Empty," stated the scarred man.

"YOU BASTARD!" cried out Ed, charging the scarred man and thrusting his knife at the man's face.

The scarred man moved his head to the left, grasping Ed's right arm with his hand.

"You're still too slow," he said as blue light engulfed Ed's arm. But instead of exploding, it simply made a metallic _ding_ as Scar's alchemy rebounded. Scar looked genuinely surprised, before slamming Ed's arm with his left hand, knocking the knife out of it. Ed lashed out with one of his legs, but he was thrust back by the scarred man before his foot could connect. The scarred launched his foot forward, knocking Ed back into the street

Ed grunted in frustration as he rolled back and stood up, taking off his red coat. The scarred man's eye's narrowed in comprehension.

"So, you possess an auto-mail arm. That explains why my attack did not do as much damage as I expected." He then watched as Ed tossed his jacket to the side and pressed his hands together. Ed placed his left hand over the back of his right one, and blue light engulfed his auto-mail hand as he transmuted the metal backhand into a long blade.

"BROTHER!" cried out Al, as he pulled himself forward with his one arm, pieces falling off of him as he went, "DON'T FIGHT, RUN!"

Ed looked at his brother, before shaking his head.

"YOU IDIOT!" replied Ed, "I'M NOT JUST GONNA LEAVE YOU BEHIND!"

"So," stated the scarred man, gaining the brothers attention, "you place your hands together and make an alchemic ring, using your body as the circle, then you perform transmutation. Now I see,"

He then dodged to the side as Ed thrust his bladed hand at his face. The scarred man grabbed Ed's arm with his left hand. The scarred man then locked Ed's legs in his own, before pressing his right hand up to Ed's auto-mail shoulder.

"I must begin by destroying this infernal right arm of yours," blue light flashed from the scarred man's hand, and before Ed could even blink, his arm exploded, pieces of it flying and cutting both Ed's and the scarred man's faces.

"BROTHER!" cried out Al, as he furiously tried to move to help his brother. But, due to his state of disrepair, he was helpless.

"Now, Edward Elric, you will not be able to use your heretical alchemy," stated the scarred man, slowly walking towards Ed.

Ed gasped in fear, before scrambling backwards and, without his arm to balance him, falling on his face. Ed then turned and faced up towards the scarred man. The man stopped above Ed.

"I will give you a moment to pray to gods," stated the man.

"BROTHER! RUN AWAY!" cried out Al, desperation apparent in his voice.

"Unfortunately," stated Ed, sitting up, and looking defiantly at the scarred man "there isn't any god I'd like to pray to."

"Pity," stated the scarred man, leaning down.

"Am I the only one you're after today?" inquired Ed, "or are you also going to kill my brother too?"

The scarred man leaned back up, before looking back at the desperately moving Al. He then turned back toward Ed.

"If your brother interferes, then I will eliminate him." replied the scarred man, "However it is only you, Fullmetal Alchemist, that will be receiving divine judgement today,"

"Then promise me," demanded Ed, "that after you kill me, you will not hurt my brother."

The scarred man nodded.

"I swear, I will keep that promise." Scar then leaned down, and reached his right hand back.

"NO BROTHER, DON'T DO THIS! RUN AWAY!" cried out Al, however Ed didn't respond instead closing his eyes and waiting. Scar then launched his hand forward, blue light already engulfing it in preparation for Ed's head.

"BROTHER NO!" cried out Al, and then blue light blinded both Al and Ed.

Ed felt something warm drip onto his face. He opened his eyes and looked up, only to see a black cloak above him and the stump of what used to be an arm in front of his face

"You know…Ed," came out a voice that both Ed and Al recognized, although it was breathing very haggardly, "You…still need…to get better…at hiding,"

"MR. NARUTO!" yelled out Al's voice, elation apparent.

Naruto didn't reply, instead launching his foot forward and kicking the scarred man back into the wall of the alley. Naruto then stood up from his crouched position and walked forward, before grabbing Ed.

"Sorry," mumbled out Naruto, his muscles flexing as he threw Ed into the Alley, right by Al.

Naruto took a deep inhale, attempting to regain some of his lost breath. After a moment, he felt the warm liquid of his blood rolling down his side, so grabbed the clasp that held his coat up, and tore it off, his cloak falling to his feet. Naruto looked down at the stump of his left shoulder, before facing the scarred man.

"Now…I am…sure I know who…you are…but just for…formality's sake," Naruto moved into a combative stance, "I assume you are…the one they call…Scar,"

"That is correct," replied Scar, setting his foot back, preparing to move. "Who are you?"

Naruto chuckled morbidly, before rushing forward at nearly inhuman speed, raising his right hand to strike Scar.

Scar dodged to the left, just barely avoiding Naruto's fist, which cratered into the wall of the alley. Scar then attempted to grab Naruto's arm, but was unable to do so, as Naruto's pulled his hand out of the wall of the Alley and spun, kicking Scar in the side and launching him into the other wall of the Alley. As the Scar's head impacted into the wall, it whipped forward, throwing the man's tinted glasses onto the ground in front of him.

"You know...that chimera you…killed? That was…a little girl," stated Naruto, turning towards the scarred man.

Scar hacked up a large globule of blood as he pushed himself out of the crater in the alley wall. Scar fell into his knees, grabbing his side as he did.

"That thing was an abomination unto god," stated Scar, looking up at Naruto with his uncovered eyes, "Whatever it was before doesn't matter. What it became was a perverted distortion of the One True God's creation,"

Naruto was stopped in place, surprised by Scar's eyes. Instead of a normal color, such as the common greens or browns found in Amestris, Scar's eyes were red. Naruto laughed morbidly, hacking up a small bit of blood.

"Of course you would be after state alchemists," Naruto wiped the blood dribbling down his chin, his eyes hardening as his body flexed to move.

"Ishvalan."

Scar leapt to the side, barely avoiding Naruto's leg as it impacted into the wall of the alley. Scar stumbled out of the alley, falling forward, inadvertently avoiding a kick from Naruto. Scar spun around, aiming to knock one of Naruto's legs out from under him. Naruto instead, lifted his leg and stomped down on Scar's leg. A distinctive snap could be heard, as the bone in Scar's leg broke. Scar grunted out in pain as he twisted out from under Naruto's foot, pulling himself forward and hopping up, limping away from Naruto, who started to sway dangerously.

"It seems…Ishvalan…that your alchemy…reached part of…my…lung," stated Naruto, coughing up a large amount of blood and falling down onto his knee. He looked up at Scar, who was grasping his leg in pain.

"Unfortunately…I will be…unable to continue…our fight," Naruto coughed up another globule of blood, before tilting his head down and smiling slightly, "perfect timing,"

Scar looked at Naruto warily, before slowly approaching his unmoving form. Scar stopped in front of Naruto, looking down at him. Wordlessly, Scar reached forward with his right hand and was about to grasp Naruto's head, when a click made him leap back. A moment later, three gunshots rang throughout the street, holes appearing right where scar had been standing a moment prior.

Scar landed on his broken leg, causing him to collapse onto the ground and let out a grunt of pain. Scar looked down the street, before snarling in controlled frustration. On one end of the street was Mustang and Riza, along with the muscled man and the bespectacled man. The gun that had just gone off was in Riza's hand, and she was looking down its sights with expert focus. On the other was a rapidly growing blockade of military soldiers.

"That is enough!" called out Mustang, gaining Scar,s attention, "You will not be killing anyone else today, Scar. We are taking you into custody where you will answer for the murders of at least ten state alchemists and over thirty Amestrian soldiers and personnel."

Scar stood up, looking back and forth between Mustang and the rapidly-increasing wall of soldiers. He turned toward Mustang,

"Alchemists alter things from their natural form, perverting them into something else, something grotesque. They profane god, the true creator of all things," Scar declared. Scar then raised his right arm, revealing it to all who could see, "As an agent of god, I must hand down his judgment upon those who would corrupt his creations!"

Blue light engulfed Scars hand as he slammed it down onto the cobblestone of the street. Crackling blue light covered the street, and almost immediately after the street collapsed into the sewers below.

"What the hell!?" rang out Mustang's voice, as dust engulfed the area, obscuring everyone's view. When the dust had settled the majority of the street had fallen into the sewers leaving a gaping hole, and Scar was nowhere to be seen.

"The bastard got into the sewers," stated the bespectacled man from before, staring into the hole. Roy growled in frustration.

"EVERYONE!" called out Roy, "START SETTING UP BLOCKADES AT ALL KNOWN EXITS FROM THE SEWERS, WE CANNOT LET SCAR ESCAPE,"

Roy then sighed, before remembering the whole reason he was here.

"FULLMETAL!" called out Roy, not being able to see the young alchemist anywhere.

"Here!" called out Ed from his place in the Alley.

Mustang walked around the large hole that Scar had made in the street until he was directly opposite the Elric brothers. After seeing their state of being, Mustang was quick to react.

"MAJOR ARMSTRONG!" called out Mustang. The tall man from the Tucker residence popped up from among the rubble, having already begun to move some of the larger pieces of stone.

"Yes?" replied the, now named, Armstrong.

"Get the Elrics out onto the main road, so that they can receive treatment fo-"

"NO!" called out Ed, gaining the two older men's attention, "First find Naruto, he is gravely wounded."

Armstrong looked at Ed, confused, before looking back towards Mustang for enlightenment.

"Naruto was the man who was with us in Tucker's house," informed Roy, scanning the rubble for Naruto, or if not Naruto, then at least his corpse. The soldiers that had barricaded the end of the street started filtering down into the rubble, searching for civilians or injured personnel.

"HEY, I GOT SOMEONE OVER HERE!" called out one of the soldiers. Mustang rushed over to the soldier, preparing himself. What he saw, however, was not what he had been expecting. Instead of a man writhing in the agony of a lost limb, Mustang found Naruto calmly instructing the soldier in the rudimentary procedure of first aid. Naruto seemed to sense Mustang and looked up when Mustang came within viewing distance.

"Oh, hello Mr. Musta-" Naruto coughed up another large amount of blood, before looking up at Mustang. "You took your sweet time getting here,"

Mustang frowned, before finally noticing Naruto's arm. "True, but I am also not the one missing an arm here, now am I," replied Mustang, climbing down the rim of the hole and walking over to Naruto.

Naruto looked up at Mustang, before looking down at his own missing left arm.

"Yeah, I guess that is true," Naruto sighed, before leaning back against the piece of rubble he had sat by.

"So, I guess you spoke with her?" inquired Naruto, turning his head toward Mustang. Mustang nodded, placing his left hand into his coat pocket.

"Good, then I guess I can ask you to do this with a relative ease of mind,"

"What?" inquired Mustang.

Naruto leaned forward and took a deep breath, his face starting to become visibly pale from the blood loss.

"Cauterize it," stated Naruto, looking up at Mustang's widening eyes. Mustang frowned, pulling his hand out his pocket and reaching into his coat. He pulled out, not a set of gloves, but a lighter.

Naruto looked at the lighter inquisitively.

"The rain messes with my gloves," stated Roy, flipping the lighter open. He placed his thumb on the flint wheel.

"You sure about this," inquired Mustang. Naruto looked up at mustang and laughed grimly.

"Do you really think I would ask something like this on a whim?" inquired Naruto patronizingly, "I know what is coming,"

Mustang nodded, and sparked the lighter.

A column of white flame rushed down the lighter, impacting with Naruto's left shoulder. The flesh immediately began to sizzle and blacken. The smell of burning flesh and cloth filled the air, causing the soldier that had been standing near them to back away in disgust.

Naruto's body seized up, but he did not cry out or moan, instead simply staring at the broken cobble in front of him. After about ten seconds of continuous heat, Mustang cut off the flame to reveal the burnt stump of Naruto's arm. Burnt, but completely sealed.

"Thanks," stated Naruto, leaning back against the rubble once again and taking a deep breath, "I…think I should get some rest,"

Mustang just watched as Naruto fell into a light sleep, turning to leave only when the stretcher had come to take Naruto away.

Mustang climbed out of the collapsed street, and walked over to the Elric brothers, who were leaned up against one the buildings near the end of the street, where the ground hadn't collapsed.

"You know that you're a really big pain in my neck, right Ed?" stated Roy, leaning up against the wall next to the Elder Elric.

Ed looked up at Roy, before laughing hollowly.

"Yeah,"

"We're gonna need to keep this pretty quiet you realize," stated the bespectacled man, walking up to Ed, Roy, and Al.

Ed looked up at the newcomer, before smiling slightly.

"Hey Mr. Hughes, I didn't know you were in East City,"

"Yeah, my crew and I were in pursuit of Scar after he had been spotted in Central," Hughes turned toward the sewer, frowning, "I guess we lost him again."

"No. We have him cornered, and from what I saw, Naruto broke his leg, so he can't be moving too fast. We just need to stay vigilant and keep anything from coming out of that sewer without being inspected," replied Roy, "If we do that, we'll catch him, eventually,"

"I guess, but that is a big 'if'," replied Hughes; he placed his hand on Roy's shoulder, gripping it reassuringly, "Best of luck."

Hughes then looked down at the Elrics, before turning and heading towards one of the two cars that brought Armstrong and him to the seen.

"Where are you off to?" inquired Roy, turning towards the retreating Hughes. Hughes stopped and turned around.

"I _was _on a pursuit mission, and since it is now under your jurisdiction, I have to report to central command and update them on the situation," replied Hughes. "Don't worry, I won't mention the Elrics' situation to the Higher Ups,"

Roy looked at Hughes, quite confused. Hughes was, in essence, giving Roy the go ahead to take credit for the capture of Scar, should that ever happen. Hughes just chuckled, before waving and turning, resuming his walk towards the cars.

"Hey," Roy turned towards Ed, who had spoken, "How is…Naruto?"

"He's on his way to the hospital," replied Roy.

Ed seemed to sulk at that, his head and shoulders falling forward slightly.

"What exactly happened, Ed?" inquired Roy, kneeling down so that he was near eyelevel with the two brothers.

"He saved my idiot brother's life," replied Al, slight anger in his voice. Roy and Ed looked over at Al, who was leaned up against the building with his metal arm and leg leaned up next to him.

"Al, wh-" Ed was stopped when Al's remaining fist impacted with his brother's face.

"What the hell Al!" exclaimed Ed, holding his face, which was already turning red from the impending bruise.

"Why didn't you run away when I told you to!?" cried out Al, chips of metal falling from his body as he spoke.

"Are you insane!?" replied Ed, "He could have killed yo-"

Ed was once again interrupted by his brother's fist.

"Damnit Al, stop hitting me,"

"NO! I need to beat the idiot out of you!" Al swung his fist, although Ed anticipated it this time and leaned backwards in order to dodge it.

"I'm not an idiot Al! He could've killed you!" stated Ed, leaning forward.

"Yes you are!" replied Al, "Only an idiot makes the decision to die!"

"How is it idiotic to sacrifice oneself for the one they love?!" yelled Ed in response. Ed was then yanked forward, his brother having grabbed his shirt.

"You don't get it," stated Al, "**WE **need to stay alive, so that we can get our bodies back and help people like Nina! We can't do that if we are DEAD!"

Al thrust his brother back onto the ground, but in doing so, caused his remaining arm to fail and separate from his body, leaving him armless and legless.

"**DAMN IT!**" exclaimed his brother in frustration, "Now my arm has fallen off because my brother is a big, stupid, idiot!"

Ed looked up at his raging brother, utterly surprised by his uncharacteristic outburst. Ed leaned forward, feeling suddenly spent. He looked at his own scrapped arm, before looking up at his brother and smiling.

"We're really falling apart here, aren't we?" stated Ed, moving up to his brother and leaning against him, "We look like we belong in a junk heap,"

"We're still alive though," replied Al, looking up at the receding rainclouds.

"Yep," Ed held his human hand up and looked at it, "We're still alive."

XxX

Naruto opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the white of the hospital ceiling. After a minute or two of just staring at the ceiling, Naruto grew bored and yawned, before sitting up.

"You know, the medical staff flipped their shit when you didn't get an infection,"

Naruto looked left, to see Roy, Ed, and Al sitting on the room's guest chairs, although Al was actually situated on top of a moving trolley, as he could not sit without any legs. Roy was the one who had spoken. Naruto smiled, before chuckling lightly.

"I have a _very _strong immune system," replied Naruto, rolling his head on his shoulders and cracking any kinks out of his neck.

No one spoke for a while, and soon the room was filled with a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"So, how long have I been out?" inquired Naruto.

"Two days," replied Roy.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, before lying back down on his bed.

_"Damn," _thought Naruto, _"I was out a lot longer than usual."_

Naruto turned his head toward Roy.

"So, have you caught him yet?"

Mustang shook his head.

"Scar is still in the sewers," replied Roy, sighing, "We have yet to organize a taskforce to go into the sewers to find him. We think he is probably unable to move very well, due to his injury,"

"He's Ishvalan," stated Naruto, causing Mustang's eyes to widen in surprise.

"That is…quite enlightening." Mustang stood up, before bowing slightly towards Naruto and the brothers, "I must go, I wish you three well. Ed, alert me when you guys reach Central. I will have one of my men pick you up there. Until then," Mustang then left, leaving just Naruto and the Elrics.

"What did he mean by 'enlightening'?" inquired Ed, leaning forward to listen.

Naruto sighed, before propping himself up on his elbow and sitting completely up.

"Ok," began Naruto, "How much do you guys know about the war?"

"Almost nothing," replied Ed, "We were pretty young when it started, and we were nine or ten when it was concluded. The only thing that I know is that the country dumped most of its resources into the war, and that we had a period of time during the end of the war where famine was so widespread that we lost nearly a third of our total population,"

Naruto nodded.

"That is a good start; I guess I won't have to explain the economic repercussions of the war." Naruto took a deep breath, before beginning his explanation, "The Ishvalans were a race of nomadic desert people who hailed from the region of Ishval. They worshiped a god known as Ishvala, The One True Creator."

"That was who Scar was talking about!" exclaimed Al.

"That is correct," replied Naruto, taking a breath before continuing, "The Ishvalans viewed alchemy as one of the most profane acts against Ishvala, and prohibited its use on their land. This rule was held strong, even after the annexation of Ishval. Due to their highly clashing cultures, relations between Amestris and Ishval were very strained and any diplomatic discussions generally ended with both sides unwilling to relent to the others' demands. After about four years of this, tensions were high and both sides were hostile,"

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath and continuing.

"Hostilities were brought to a tipping point when an Amestrian soldier accidentally shot, and killed, an Ishvalan child. The effect was immediate and, not a day later, the first uprising occurred, in the hometown of the child who was shot. From there, it just spread, Uprising after uprising. A month later, nearly all of eastern Amestris had been covered in Ishvalan forces. Thus began the Ishvalan Civil War, or the Ishvalan War of Extermination." Naruto took a moment to take another breath, "After nearly seven years of continuous conflict, Amestris had finally managed to push the Ishvalan forces all the way back into their original holy lands, but at the cost of nearly all their resources. Unable to rout out the last of the Ishvalan military, and not having the resources for an all-out siege, Fuhrer King Bradly ordered the use of state alchemists in the extermination of the Ishvalan race," Naruto looked to Ed, who was leaning forward and contemplating all that Naruto had said.

"Needless to say," continued Naruto, "The use of state alchemists proved to be quite…effective. Within days, thirty-five state alchemists achieved what twelve thousand Amestrian soldiers never could; the complete and utter extermination of the Ishvalan people. Some would say that Scar is justified in what he is doing,"

"NO WAY!" cried out Ed, standing up and looking at Naruto with angered eyes, "There is no justification for the killing of those who had _nothing _to do with the war,"

"And do you think that all of Ishval was behind this war?" replied Naruto, stopping Ed's rant, "Most of the war was fought by Ishvalan radicals, people who were already planning a rebellion and just used that child's death as a means to an end,"

"Even so, what Scar is doing is not righting a wrong; he is just killing under the guise of a justice and calling it an act of God,"

"Still, the fact is that he is hunting you down. Even if his reasons are unjust, his drive is very real. We cannot hesitate next time," stated Naruto, swinging his legs out of bed, "and Ed,"

"Yeah?"

"If it ever comes to it, where Scar is in pursuit of you and I am not there, I need you and your brother to run." Ed looked as if he were going to retort, but instead hung his head down.

"Okay," replied Ed, although he desperately wanted to say otherwise.

"Good," stated Naruto, hopping off of the bed, he was about to leave the room when he noticed his medical garb, "Now where is my coat?"

"Brother packed it in his suitcase," stated Al from his place on the trolley.

Naruto looked over towards Ed, who was looking a little embarrassed.

"I was hoping you would still accompany us. I know the best auto-mail mechanic in the country and, well, you know, I could probably get her to make you a new arm." stated Ed, looking down slightly, "But you don't have to if you don't want to!"

It hit Naruto all at once; he realized that these two boys were still just children and he had been viewing them as adults.

"I'll get it ou-" Ed was cut off by a great, bellowing laugh from Naruto.

"I appreciate it Ed, I really do, but how did you expect to get me out of here without any of my clothes on?! Were you going to drag my comatose body out and onto a train?"

Ed didn't respond, instead seeming to shrink in on himself, before reaching under the trolley and retrieving his suitcase. He opened it and dug through his clothes, before taking a flat bundle wrapped in paper.

"Here," stated Ed, handing the bundle over to Naruto.

"Thanks," replied Naruto, tearing open the paper and pulling out his black coat, red shirt and pants. Naruto walked into the washroom his room provided and changed, coming out a moment later with the hospital gown draped over his arm.

"We couldn't find your shoes, or your hat at the street," stated Ed, still a little embarrassed by his blunder.

Naruto shrugged.

"That's fine, they're replaceable. The only thing of import is my coat. So long as I have that, I will be fine,"

Ed and Al looked at Naruto strangely, before ultimately chalking it up to one his irregularities.

"So, Ed, where to next?" inquired Naruto, tying his left arm sleeve into a knot.

"Well, Al and I need some serious repair," stated Ed, getting a nod in agreement from Naruto, "I think it is a good time to see my mechanic,"

XxX

Scar stumbled to a stop, leaning against the wall of the sewer. He slid down the wall until he was sitting, holding his leg in pain. He looked down at it, seeing the point where the bone in his leg had broken the skin. After trudging through the sewers for two days, he had no doubt in his mind that it been infected. The area around the wound was hot with red lines radiating down from it and pus was seeping out around the bone. It smelled like spoiled meat.

Scar was disturbed from his moment of rest by the sound of heavy footsteps coming from further down the tunnel, as well as several dozen rats running past him, seemingly fleeing from something. Scar turned his head to look down the tunnel, but leapt up at what he saw.

Rounding the corner of the tunnel was _something_. The creature was humanoid, but it was definitely not human. It was short; standing at around five-foot four, it had a bald head and large nose. The things forearms were overly large, much larger than its biceps. Its torso was less like a human, and looking more like an eggplant. This was only accentuated by the skin-tight, black bodysuit the creature was wearing.

Scar started to back up slowly, hoping to avoid this creature's attention for as long as possible. The moment Scar moved, the creatures head snapped toward him, showing bright red, demonic-looking eyes.

"I," the creature started taking slow lumbering steps toward Scar, who had since gotten into a pseudo combat stance.

"Can," the creature suddenly started sprinting toward Scar, who was surprised by such speed, given the creatures body.

"**Smell**," the creature leapt at Scar, who sidestepped it, before stumbling back into the sewer canal, covering himself in sewage. The creature turned toward Scar suddenly, and smiled horrifically.

"**YOU!**" the creature once again leapt at Scar, this time opening its mouth, preparing to take a bite out of Scar.

Scar, once again, sidestepped the creature. Scar grabbed the creature's arm as it flew past, and a split second later, the arm was no longer attached to the creature, instead falling into the sewer water below.

Instead of blood falling out of the wound however, red lighting arced across the skin and within seconds, the arm that Scar had taken off grew back, exactly as it had been before.

"That hurt!" cried out the creature, its bloodlust temporarily culled by the pain. The creature turned to Scar, who was climbing out of the sewer water and back onto the cobble path, using his broken leg despite the pain.

"Why do you run?" asked the creature, genuinely confused. The insanity in its face moments before was replaced by a look of innocence. "I just want to eat you."

The creature started its lumbering walk again, following Scar at a slow pace, talking to itself as it did.

"Why does it run?" inquired the creature to itself, "Gluttony told it,"

The creature stopped, something seeming to have clicked in its mind. The horrifyingly insane smile that had been on its face a moment ago, returned. It licked its lips as Scar turned a corner, going out of its view.

"Gluttony told it, yes he did, he told it." The creature, identifying itself as Gluttony, started walking again, its eyes turning red as it did.

"**I CAN SMELL YOU!**"

XxX

"**I CAN SMELL YOU!**" Scar increased his pace, a rare bout of fear pumping through his body as the beast behind him screamed madly.

Scar suddenly dove forward, as years of combat experience came to his aid and saved his life, barely avoiding Gluttony's jaws as it sailed over his body. Scar grunted in pain as his injured leg impacted with the hard cobble of the sewer.

He looked up as the creature turned around and raced towards him, its mouth frothing and drooling as it did. Scar rolled to the side, once again just barely avoiding the creature as it crashed into the wall of the sewer. The creature pulled its head out of the wall, red lighting arcing around its scull, as the impact had apparently been strong enough to cave it in. It turned toward Scar and started stalking towards him again, this time moving much slower.

Scar got up and started to run away, but was knocked back down when a chunk of the wall clipped his injured leg. He looked back at Gluttony, who was pulling another chunk of the wall out, this one much larger than the last one.

"If it doesn't move, then Gluttony will be able to eat it," stated the creature to itself, as it managed to yank out a piece of rock about half the size of Scar, "Yes! And then Lust will be happy with Gluttony, and Gluttony will be able to eat even more!"

Scar looked at Gluttony in horror, before noticing a spout of water coming out from where Gluttony had torn apart the wall. As Gluttony raved to itself about how tasty the "Little Ishvalan" would be, Scar pressed his ear to the wall of the sewer. Sure enough, he could hear the rushing of water.

"Now, Little Ishvalan, **DIE!**" cried out Gluttony as he reared his arm back to throw the piece of stone.

Scar, seeing no other option, pressed his right hand up against the wall of the sewer. Blue lighting stretched down the entire length of the corridor. Gluttony turned his head to look down the sewer as a rumbling sound made its way down. Gluttony could do nothing more than scream as the walls of the sewer crumbled and over ten thousand gallons of water poured in, sweeping both Gluttony and Scar away into its unrelenting currents.

XxX

**So, how'd you like that? I know, it's a little shorter than usual, the reason being that it was actually part of larger chapter that was just so large that I thought it better to just split it in two. So, be aware, that another chapter is going to be released in a couple days instead of the long-ass time it usually takes me to write ( :**

**Anyways, as I said, I was in Canada, thus my late update, sorry. **

**Hope you guys like the chapter, I sure as hell did.**

**See ya later!**

**Salem52, **

**Signing off.**


	5. Truths

**Hello my peeps, this is Salem52, signing in.**

**Well, not much to say, I have posted this before I can get a lot of feedback from my wonderful fans.**

**I hope you guys like it ( By the way, this is the second half of the massive chapter I mentioned before, if you want, imagine that there is no author's note here and that you just waited a few days before reading the second half ( ; )**

**Now, without further ado, I present the fourth installment of:**

**For Those Who Remember**

Ed was staring at the rapidly moving landscape as the train he was riding on moved past the fields and meadows of Eastern Amestris. Across from him sat Naruto, who was casually scribbling down ideas for his next book. Ed sighed, before looking to the person sitting next to him.

"I still don't understand why Mustang sent you with me," stated Ed, annoyance lacing his voice.

Armstrong looked down at Ed, before closing his copy of Make Out Paradise.

"Mustang sent me to guard you and Alphonse. If an associate of Scar were to attack you two, you'd be nearly defenseless," replied Armstrong, opening his book once again.

"I also can't believe how you can read that trash, Colonel," stated Ed, looking at the small orange book in Armstrong's hands in disgust.

Armstrong turned towards Ed in genuine surprise, before standing up and striking an…interesting pose.

"You would dare mock a literary masterpiece such as this!?" accused Armstrong, holding his book up as though it were some holy relic.

"You would call that smut a 'literary masterpiece'?" questioned Ed, disbelief clear in his voice.

"WHY YES! OF COURSE I WOULD!" exclaimed Armstrong, the volume of his voice only being exceeded by the exuberance with which he stated it, "IT REFLECTS THE BEST IN MASCULINITY, ITERATING THE CYCLE OF BIRTH AND DEATH WITH MASTERFUL PRECISION!"

Ed was looking up at Armstrong with wide, unbelieving eyes. Ed didn't reply, instead turning back to his window and pressing his forehead to glass.

Naruto chuckled at Ed's misfortune, before turning to Armstrong, who had sat back in his seat and pulled out his book for the third time.

"So, Mr. Armstrong, since you are guarding Ed, I assume that you are a state alchemist," stated Naruto, placing his notebook into his jacket.

"That is correct!" replied Armstrong, nodding, "I am Alex Louis Armstrong, the Armstrong Alchemist, practitioner of the Armstrong Alchemy, which has been passed down the Armstrong family for generations!"

Armstrong stood up as he was saying this and struck a "Strong Man" pose as he finished his title.

"I see," replied Naruto, seemingly unfazed by Armstrong's over-the-top way of speaking, "Then I would guess that your alchemy is combat oriented."

"That is correct once again! My alchemy is the perfect combination of raw strength and finesse, accompanied by precise transmutations to construct anything with the simple punch of the fist!"

Armstrong pulled out a piece of chalk as he spoke and wrote an intricate transmutation circle on their cabin table. At the end of the speech Armstrong lifted up his fist and punched directly in the center of the table. A bright light engulfed the table, blurring it from sight. When it reappeared, instead of a table there was a perfect sculpture of Armstrong's head in the center of the cabin.

Naruto and Ed looked at the head in astonishment.

"What the hell Armstrong! We have to pay for that!" cried out Ed.

"NONESENSE!" replied Armstrong, "Now everyone will be able to view my GLORIOUS visage for all of eternity!"

"BUT THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO USE THE TABLE!" cried Ed, obviously annoyed.

Armstrong put his hand up to his chin.

"Yes, that is quite unfortunate," replied Armstrong matter-of-factly, "I guess I shall just have to rectify my mistake!"

Armstrong then raised his fist and punched the table again. Blue light engulfed it, and when it was visible it again Ed cried out in frustration and Naruto laughed.

Before them was indeed a table, however, the table was bright gold with small Armstrong's adorning the side in various positions of work. It looked quite reminiscent of Greek architecture and was as flamboyant as could be.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it _illegal _to make gold alchemically?" inquired Naruto.

"Indeed," replied Armstrong, "However that is not gold, but pyrite,"

"Fool's gold," stated Naruto.

"I still think they'll charge us for the table," stated Ed, sighing before once again returning to his window.

"You can afford it," replied Naruto, turning to Armstrong.

"Thank you for your explanation. It was most…enlightening," stated Naruto, bowing his head to the larger man. "Although I must ask, why are you so free with your alchemy. Aren't you afraid of someone potentially stealing it?"

Armstrong shook his head.

"As I said earlier, my alchemy requires a perfect combination of strength and finesse, both of which I have spent my entire life honing. If there was someone who could match me physically and combatively, then they deserve to learn my alchemy,"

Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"In that case, I challenge you to a spar when we reach Resembool," said Naruto. Armstrong looked at Naruto, before smiling and nodding.

"I shall anticipate it! Our fight will be a most youthful endeavor!" replied Armstrong.

Naruto seized up, before looking at Armstrong with disbelief.

"What did you just say?" inquired Naruto, his voice quiet.

"I said our fight would be a most youthful endeavor!" replied Armstrong, somewhat confused.

"Is that something you say often?" asked Naruto, still quiet.

Armstrong put his hand up to chin in a contemplative gesture, before shaking his head in the negative.

"No, I would have to say that this is the first time I have actually said that," said Armstrong, "Although, I do like how it sounds. I may use it in the future,"

"Is something wrong Naruto?" inquired Ed, worried.

"No," replied Naruto, shaking his head. "It's just…it was a phrase a dear friend of mine had used, a long time ago."

"In that case, I shall use it in honor of this…most youthful…friend of yours," stated Armstrong, giving Naruto a thumbs up.

Naruto looked at Armstrong even more disbelieving, before nodding absently and leaning back into his chair. Naruto then seemed to remember something.

"Hey Ed, where's Al?" inquired Naruto.

Ed looked at Armstrong annoyed, sticking his thumb towards Armstrong.

"This guy, decided that Al needed some company, so instead of bringing Al in here with us, he put Al in the cargo car filled with _sheep_,"

"I thought he would need some company, and I very well couldn't bring a disembodied hunk of armor onto the train car with us!" replied Armstrong, folding his arms in an almost childish manner.

"THAT HUNK OF ARMOR IS MY BROTHER!" cried out Ed, even more annoyed with Armstrong's offhand response.

Naruto laughed, before a loud bell sounded, alerting the passengers that the next train station was coming up.

"I am pretty sure that this is our stop," stated Naruto, raising his arms and stretching.

"It is," replied Ed, getting up, reaching under his seat and pulling out his suitcase, Armstrong followed suit, although his suitcase was located inside an overhead compartment.

"I don't suppose you guys would want to get some lunch?" inquired Naruto, "I'm famished."

"I'm up for it, how about you, Colonel?"

"An Armstrong is always able to eat," replied Armstrong.

"Good, and I know Al won't object to being out and about after five hours inside a sheep pen," stated Naruto, as Ed glared at Armstrong.

They got up when the train started to slow, and before long, they had stopped in front of Sewly Train Station, the first and only train station of the small farm town of Sewly.

After getting off the train and retrieving Al, the quartet made their way towards Sewly proper, Al being carried in a shipping crate on Armstrong's shoulder. However, as they were leaving the station, Armstrong made a cry of exclamation and pointed towards a man carrying some groceries about thirty feet away from them.

"DR. MARCO! IS THAT YOU!?" called out Armstrong, waving at the man.

The man looked at Armstrong for a second, then dropped his groceries and ran.

Before they could even begin to start pursuing him, Marco had turned the street corner and was out of sight. Naruto turned to Armstrong.

"Who was that, and do you want me to catch him?" inquired Naruto, shuffling in his new boots in preparation.

"That man was Tim Marco, or at least looked like him," replied Armstrong, obviously troubled. "He was one of the military's top researchers during the Ishvalan war, as well as one of the leading minds in the possible medical application of alchemy. However, he was said to have disappeared taking all of his research with him. We have not been able to find him since,"

"What was your relationship with him? If you could recognize him at a glance, that would suggest that you spent a great deal of time with the man," said Naruto.

"He was my psychiatrist," replied Armstrong.

"I thought you said he was a top researcher," stated Ed, pointing out the possible contradiction. Armstrong looked down at Ed.

"I was his only patient." Armstrong turned to Naruto and sighed, "Leave him be. We'll find him again. No need to frighten him."

Naruto just shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Okay, as you said, we'll find him eventually." Naruto then walked forward, picking up the doctor's groceries. He picked an apple out from it, bit into it and turned to face the trio, "Just remember. Eventually can be an awfully long time,"

XxX

Armstrong held up the picture of Marco he had drawn, portraying the old doctor with surprising accuracy. The shopkeeper whom they had just bought lunch from took a look at the picture, before nodding.

"That is doctor Mauro. He lives outside town, a mile or so east of the train station," stated the shopkeeper. The man then frowned, "You're not gonna try to do anything to the good doctor, are you?"

"Absolutely not! He's just an old acquaintance of mine, who I saw my way in, but unfortunately, could not contact,"

"Good, because that doctor has done nothing but good for us since he moved here and we would like it to stay like that."

Armstrong nodded, before tucking the picture back into his blue military coat. He turned and looked down at Ed and Naruto, who were munching on large sandwiches.

"May I see the picture Mr. Armstrong?" requested Al from his place on Armstrong's shoulder.

"CERTAINLY!" replied Armstrong, reaching back into his coat and pulling out the picture, holding it up so that Al could see.

"Wow, Mr. Armstrong, you are really good! It looks exactly like him,' exclaimed Al.

"The art of portraiture has been passed the Armstrong family for generations," replied Armstrong, almost as if it were second nature.

"Well, since we have found out where he lives," stated Ed, his voice muffled by a mouthful of sandwich, "Want to head over and see if he's home?"

"Yes, I have a few questions for Marco, which I would very much like to answered," replied Armstrong seriously.

"What do you intend to do with him after you have those questions answered?" inquired Naruto. "He is, by definition, a deserter. If you were to follow military law, you would be required to capture him until further sentencing or should you be unable to resolve matters peacefully, kill him,"

Armstrong looked down at Naruto, a frown covering his face.

"That is a dark thought indeed, one that will be dictated by Marco's answers." Without another word, Armstrong headed towards the train station and eventually, "Doctor Mauro's" house.

XxX

Armstrong knocked on the door to "Doctor Mauro's" residence, one mile east of Sewly train station. A moment later, Armstrong could hear the distinct sound of bolts sliding behind the door. Armstrong was not able to say anything due to the fact that there was a gun barrel in front of him, held in the hands of the man that they were searching for.

"Alright Armstrong, what are you doing here? Are you here to take me back?! Because if you are, you're a dead man," stated the terrified Doctor.

Armstrong shook his head, holding up his hands placatingly.

"No doctor, that is not why I am here," replied Armstrong calmly, "Now please put down the gu-"

"THEN YOU ARE HERE TO KILL ME, DON'T THINK I WON'T KILL YOU BECAUSE I WAS YOUR FUCKING PSYCHIATRIST I-" Marco stopped mid-rant, as his pistol was forcefully removed from his hands.

A voice came from behind Marco, and the barrel of his gun was suddenly under his chin. "You know, Mr. Marco," came Naruto's voice, "It is unwise to threaten my friends."

Marco nodded, his breathing becoming slightly labored.

"Now, are you going to be civil and hear what Armstrong has to say?" Marco nodded again.

"Good."

Naruto smiled, before coughing, spewing blood onto the doctor's shoulder. Armstrong and Ed rushed to Naruto, who was swaying heavily. Marco turned and looked at his assailant for a moment, before letting his medical instinct take over.

Marco grabbed Naruto and led him to his kitchen table where a chair was located. Marco sat Naruto down, before placing his hand onto Naruto's chest. The place that Marco touched began to glow an, almost herbal looking, green. He took his hand away a moment later and looked at Naruto with astonishment.

"What the hell was that?" inquired Ed, totally confused by what the doctor had done.

Marco looked over at Ed, before sighing.

"I scanned his body using alchemy," replied Marco, "and what I found was quite disturbing,"

"Wait!" interrupted Ed, "How did you scan his body? Something as useful as that should be commonplace amongst modern day alchemy, shouldn't it?"

Marco nodded, shaking his head and looking toward Naruto, who was breathing slightly easier.

"I have no doubt it would be, but the price of learning is…too high," replied Marco, seemingly disturbed. He placed his hand up against Naruto's chest again, "In alchemy, there are three phases," continued Marco, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah," replied Ed, "Understanding, deconstruction, reconstruction,"

"Correct," stated Marco, his hand beginning to glow green as he moved it over to Naruto's arms, "when I place my hand on the flesh, I understand, then I deconstruct, and reconstruct the cells in the exact same formation that they were in, effectively giving me a mental image of the body and the affected regions, even if they are internal,"

Marco took his hand off of Naruto's chest, before looking at him with accusing eyes.

"Young man," began Marco, causing Naruto to smile, "What in the HELL did you do to your lungs?! They're almost completely collapsed, not to mention nearly a quarter of your left lung is missing. I don't even know how you are breathing, let alone moving so fast,"

Naruto was still smiling at the "young man" statement.

"I've had a rather…strenuous…life up until now," replied Naruto, wiping some of the blood away from his mouth, "I've yet to meet someone who can fix my lungs, but I am quite capable of many things, despite their state of being. Besides, they cannot exactly be healed by…conventional methods,"

Marco looked at Naruto incredulously, before reaching into his pocket.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I had a go at them?" stated Marco, pulling his hand out of his pocket, apparently holding something, "I can assure you, my methods are anything but conventional."

"Actually, I would mind," replied Naruto, tensing up slightly, "If you don't remember, I was holding a gun up to your head a few moment ago,"

Marco looked at Naruto, before smiling slightly.

"Sir, I'm not a dangerous person by nature, but if it satisfies you, I will allow you to shoot me," state Marco obviously knowing something.

Naruto looked at Marco, seeming confused. Naruto's eyes seemed to light up in understanding, before lifting the gun up and pulling the slide back to look into the chamber. He then pulled the magazine out of Marco's gun, before chuckling.

The magazine was empty.

"What if we actually _were _here to arrest you?" inquired Al, from Armstrong's shoulder.

Marco looked at Al in absolute surprise, not expecting the armor to be able to speak.

"I…I…I…" Marco couldn't form words as he looked at Al, slowly realizing that the armor's eye slots were glowing red.

Ed and Al sighed.

"Dr. Marco," began Ed, holding his hand up as if he were presenting an attraction, "Meet my brother, Alphonse Elric."

Marco looked at the two, before breathing in sharply.

"You two committed the taboo?" breathed Marco, unbelieving.

The two brothers nodded.

Marco made a strangled sound, before stumbling back slightly, his legs seeming to go weak.

"But…you two are so _young_," stated Marco, putting his hand up to his face and wiping away phantom sweat, "Did you…see it?"

Ed looked at Marco, thoroughly surprised, before slowly nodding.

All color left Marco's face as he fell down, the information the brothers giving him apparently being too much.

"What did you learn?" inquired Marco, his voice faint.

"What do you mean?" asked Ed, confused by Marco's question.

"When one passes through the gate, He bestows upon them the gift of information and knowledge that would usually take a lifetime to accumulate, but at a price." He looked at Ed, or more specifically, Ed's arm and leg.

"He gifted me with the analyzing alchemy I just showed you, as well as great amounts of knowledge pertaining to the creation of the celestial philosopher stone." Marco sighed, but was shaken from his thoughts, literally, by Ed rushing up to him and grabbing him by his shirt and lifting him up.

"You know how to create a philosopher stone?!" cried out Ed in surprise, hope and elation in his voice.

Marco looked at Ed blankly, before laughing morbidly.

"Yes, I know how to create those despicable stones. I wish to any divine being that exists that I didn't, but I do," stated Marco, despairingly.

"We must know how to make them. It is very important," stated Ed, shaking Marco.

The man shook his head.

"Young man, I can guarantee that you don't want anything to do with those stones. They are the Devil's creation,"

"NO!" denied Ed, dropping the man, "I need to know, for my brother's sake, I need to know,"

Marco looked at Ed with wide eyes, before frowning.

"You are set in your ways," spoke Marco, shaking his head and standing up, "I'm sorry, but I cannot help you. However, I can tell you that the philosopher stone is not your answer,"

Ed looked at Marco, not quite comprehending what the man was telling him.

"You know how to make a philosopher stone," stated Ed, fury underlying his voice, "the one thing that can pay the price for my brother's body, and you will not reveal the method because you believe we'll be…be _scarred _by it? Sorry that we know how it is made? That we'll regret knowing? I'm sorry Doctor, but there are some things that I need to know, no matter the cost, and the philosopher's stone is one of them,"

Marco shook his head, before walking over to Naruto and placing his hand on the man's chest. A moment later, red light engulfed Naruto's chest. When the light faded, Naruto wheezed out, before taking a massive breath and leaping up.

"It been a long time since I've been able to breath…" Naruto took another deep breath, "…normally."

Naruto looked at Marco, a new light in his eyes.

"What did you do that was different?" inquired Naruto, looking down at Marco's clasped palm.

"I did nothing different than what I would have otherwise done," replied Marco, "Just simple alchemy. Now, if that is all, I would ask that you don't tell the military where I am and be on your way."

Naruto shook his head.

"No, those injuries were caused by something that only soul energy could cure, not alchemy." stated Naruto, slowly advancing on Marco, "Something was augmenting your alchemy."

Marco began to back away, clearly scared and slightly angry from his and Ed's dispute not a moment prior but stopped at the mention of soul energy.

"Wh…what do you mean?" inquired Marco, fear clearly on his face.

"Chakra," stated Naruto, a wild look appearing in his eyes as he disappeared from view. He appeared a moment later, behind Marco, holding a small vial filled a quarter way with blood red liquid. Naruto took a deep breath, satisfied with his apparently-renewed lungs. Naruto looked at the vial intensely, before sighing dejectedly. He tossed the vial to Ed, before grabbing the back of Marco's head, leading him over to his table and slamming the doctor's face onto the wooden surface.

"What do you make of that Ed?" inquired Naruto, looking as if he were going to continue when a large hand grasped his shoulder and forcefully removed him from Marco.

"I would ask that you not injure my psychiatrist, Naruto, especially with how cordial he's been with you," stated Armstrong angrily, removing his hand from Naruto's shoulder and picking Marco up off his table.

"Before you go defending your beloved doctor, let's hear what Ed has to say about that vial over there," stated Naruto, looking over to Ed, who uncorked the stopper of the vial and dipped his finger into the liquid. Ed's eyes widened his eyes when his finger came into contact with the liquid inside, only for the liquid to harden like a solid.

"Well," began Ed, removing his finger from the vial and swishing its contents around, before placing his finger on the liquid, resulting in its hardening once again, "It seems to some kind of highly reactive Non-Newtonian fluid." Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of chalk, scribbling down a quick transmutation circle. He then grasped the vial in his palm and placed it onto the edge of the circle. Red light engulfed the circle. Ed smirked, before picking up his creation.

"Just as I thought," stated Ed, holding out the largest diamond the group had ever seen, "It also augments the output of alchemy, increasing it and breaking the fundamental laws of equivalent exchange,"

Ed then took the diamond and lobbed it as hard as he could at Marco. The stone was stopped mid-flight by Armstrong's hand, who placed the stone down on the table before looking at Ed sternly.

"YOU BASTARD, YOU HAD A PHILOSOPHER'S STONE ALL THIS TIME!?" yelled out Ed, his fury reaching new heights.

Marco sighed, before shaking his head.

"No, that stone is flawed. Unlike the Philosopher's stone of myth, if used too heavily or too frequently, it will disperse into dust. When I left the military, that vial was full to the brim," stated Marco, turning to Naruto, "What happened to you? From what you said, your injuries were caused by something that could only be cured by…_soul energy_?

Naruto looked down at Marco, before looking over to the vial that Ed was picking up.

"I have a question for you Marco," stated Naruto, deciding not to respond to Marco's inquiry, "What is your flawed Philosopher's stone made of?"

Marco frowned, before leaning back towards the table, putting his face into his hands, sorrow overcoming him.

"During the war, the Military High Command began intensive research into the possible creation of a philosopher's stone." Marco reached into his pocket, pulled out a second, much smaller vial and uncorked it, "I have been the head of research into the stone ever since I showed a particular aptitude for…thinking outside of the box if you will. After twenty years of research, our results pointed to one thing, one horribly simple thing," he poured the liquid from the vial onto the table. The liquid, instead of splashing, remained together and formed a perfect sphere, "My trip through the gate only confirmed my research and was the final push I needed to get full military funding,"

Marco looked up to Ed, who was looking at the stone with utter surprise.

"The philosopher stone is supposed to be a perfect substance, a combination of liquid and solid. Even with all of its impurities, there is only thing that even comes close to being completely perfect." Marco picked up the stone, looking at it with weary eyes, before holding it out for Ed to hold. Ed reached forward and held the stone in his hand, feeling its weight.

"What is that?" inquired Ed, holding the stone up next the stone in the vial.

"Human life," stated Marco, watching Ed intensely. "Every experience, emotion, feeling, want, dream: everything that makes us human. That incomplete philosopher stone that you are holding is distilled from the collective souls of over nine hundred Ishvalan prisoners of war. We then used it to empower our alchemists, inevitably supplying us with more prisoners to fuel the never-ending search for the perfect philosopher stone,"

Ed stood there, completely stunned, looking at the stone in his hands in horror. He swayed, before falling onto his knees, still looking at the stone.

"You're saying that the one thing that my brother and I have been searching for, the one thing that could solve our problems and get Al's body back, is made of, and can only be created with human souls?" inquired Ed, grasping the stone and looking up to Marco with pleading eyes.

"Correct," replied Marco, placing his vial onto the philosopher stone in front of him. "There is no other way."

Ed's head sunk and he just stared at the floor for a great deal of time. Then, after minutes of complete silence Ed, surprisingly, laughed.

"It figures; that after all of this time searching, when we finally find a means of getting the stone, that something like this would come along and fuck up our plan." Ed then stood up, "If this is the only way to make a philosopher stone, then I guess that we just won't use one,"

He looked over to his brother, who only nodded in the affirmative.

Marco looked at the two brothers in amazement, before shaking his head and placing his philosopher stone into his pocket.

"You two are quite the amazing pair, and I wish you luck in your search. I'm truly sorry that you didn't find what you were looking for." He looked up Armstrong, before turning and looking at Naruto.

"How did you figure out that the stones used soul energy, or for that matter _how _did you receive an injury that you claim could be healed by soul energy,"

Naruto's eyes widened, realizing his slip up, before sighing.

"My people specialize in the usage and manipulation of one's soul in order to achieve superhuman feats of strength, agility, and alchemy," stated Naruto monotonously, sounding as though he had said those exact words a thousand times prior.

"What do you mean?" inquired Marco, intrigued. "How can one manipulate their soul?"

"You do so whenever you perform alchemy. Your mind understands the processes going on within the transmutation, however it is your soul that compels the substances involved to bend to your will. My people have developed a way to just use your soul as the required substance. It is like alkahestry to your alchemy, similar but fundamentally different,"

Naruto took a deep breath, seeming to have prepared this speech well in advance.

"Wait, you use your SOUL? Doesn't that, like, kill you?" inquired Ed, disbelieving.

Naruto looked to Ed, before sighing.

"No, one's soul is an infinitely replenishable source of energy. Although one can over-exert their souls, simple every-day activities such as eating your favorite food or exercising and time will be all that is needed to 'refill' one's soul."

"How does one interact with their soul though?" inquired Marco. "If you are able to use your soul in such a way, why haven't we been able to use OUR souls similarly?"

"As I said, you use your soul as the final component in alchemy in order to manipulate the materials involved. To use your soul like I do however you need to 'spark' it at a very young age."

"'Spark' it?"

"I've never found a good analogy for this," stated Naruto putting his hand up to his chin, thinking of what he was going to say next, "imagine that your soul is candle. When you are born, your candle is small and can only provide a very small amount of light for an even smaller amount of time. As you go through your life, you experience new things and your candle grows larger and accumulates more wax, causing it to produce more light and sustain itself for a longer time. After a while, however, your candle stops growing and the wax engulfs the wick, thus preventing your candle from ever being lit. This happens around ages twelve to fourteen, when you start growing into maturity and have to deal with the hardships of life and the desires of adulthood. However, if one is able to light their wick before it is engulfed by the wax, then they will be able use their candle as a light and allow it to grow larger, all the while keeping the wax at bay. If one doesn't use their candle for a long time, then the wax will start encroach onto the wick, and if left unabated, will cover your wick and you will never be able to light it again or at the very least, be incredibly hindered as you try to bur away the accumulated wax,"

Once again, Naruto took a deep breath and looked at his audience to see their reaction.

Marco was in deep thought, debating on whether or not to believe what he had just heard. Ed on the other hand, was having a more visible reaction.

"Our souls…are…candles!?" inquired Ed, between laughs, "You do know how ridiculous that explanation sounds, right?"

Naruto frowned, before crossing his arms, clearly disliking Ed's reaction.

"Do not be so quick to disregard something until it is proven false," replied Naruto.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Uzumaki, I shall have to agree with Ed on this account," said Armstrong. "Your explanation leaves much to be desired. Who are these people you say you come from and why have we never encountered them before? How does your alchemy differ from ours? I believe that a display of your soul-based alchemy is in order, should you wish to convince us fully. And if it is proven that you CAN manipulate your soul to perform extraordinary feats of alchemy…then I would wish to extend a formal invitation into Amestris's state alchemist program,"

Ed and Marco turned to Armstrong, surprise on their faces.

"WHAT?!" cried Ed, clearly surprised by Armstrong's statement. Armstrong turned toward Ed, looking down at him.

"What are the three rules of the State Alchemist, Ed?" inquired Armstrong, obviously attempting to make a point.

Ed frowned, but complied, "Obey The Military. Do Not Create Gold. Do Not Create humans," Ed sighed. "Colonel, what does this have to do with anything?"

Armstrong held up his hand, "Now define the first rule, Obey The Military," requested Armstrong.

"To obey the orders of my superiors," replied Ed, annoyed.

"That is not completely correct," stated Armstrong, "To devote oneself to the military hierarchy and to the protection, advancement, and well-being of Amestris, that is what 'Obey the Military' means in its entirety. If Mr. Uzumaki here can do as he states, then I am obligated by my status as State Alchemist to try to enlist him into our ranks. This is generally the case with most promising alchemists that the military gets wind of. I believe it was Colonel Mustang who was sent to enlist you two,"

Ed nodded, annoyed at the lecture, but ultimately understanding what the colonel was trying to get across.

They both turned toward Naruto, who was still frowning, although for a different reason now.

"_This is the exact reason why I don't advertise myself,_" thought Naruto, talking to himself more out of habit than anything else, "_I talk about how my abilities work, and not a second later, the local military is already trying to get their hands on me,_"

"I will show you," stated Naruto, holding his hand up to stop any words quartet might have said, "But not here, I will show you once we get to Resembool,"

Naruto turned to Marco, who was frowning. Marco held up his hand however, silencing anything Naruto might have said.

"I understand," stated Marco, sighing, "I mean, I was doing the same when you four came in. You don't want some unknown stranger being aware of what you can do, especially if they can somehow recreate what you had worked so hard to accomplish. I don't like it, but I understand,"

Marco then turned his head and looked out of his window to see the twilight skies of Eastern Amestris. He walked to his table and picked up the chair that had been knocked down when Naruto had thrust his face into the aforementioned table.

"Well, now is when I make dinner. So if you are staying then I shall make enough for us all. However the next train after the eight o'clock is in the morning," he looked at a wall clock located near his front door, "You have about twenty minutes to reach the station before the train leaves."

Armstrong shook his head. "We shall not inconvenience you further doctor. I am sorry for the mess we have made and I shall personally come at a later date to pay for any damages we may have caused,"

Marco laughed, "Alex, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd prefer if you didn't come back. The less military personnel visiting my house, the better,"

Armstrong nodded, before bowing slightly to Marco and heading towards the door, Ed and Naruto in tow, Al still on his shoulder.

"Oh, and Ed," stated Marco, grabbing the elder Elric's attention.

"Yes?" replied Ed.

"I know you two don't want to use the method I have developed to create your philosopher stone, but if you want to, you can take a look at my research notes. Perhaps you can get a sense of where you would like to start from there,"

"Really?!" Ed's eyes lit up like Christmas lights at the prospect.

"Yes, they are located in First Library's cooking section, level eight," replied Marco/ smiling at the quartet's reaction. "However, I must warn you, my research was - is quite…detailed. I was a much more…ruthless…man in my youth, and there are some things there that I am not proud of." Marco's smile had left his lips, a grimace having replaced it. "Just, make sure that, no matter what, if you cannot find another way, you don't use my way. It WILL weigh on your conscience for the rest of your lives. You are good boys. Don't let desperation ruin that."

Ed and Al looked at the doctor, who was watching at them with pleading eyes.

Ed nodded, holding his left hand up to his heart. "I promise," replied Ed, looking up to his brother.

"As do I," confirmed Al, bowing his head as much as he could.

"Edward," interjected Armstrong, looking at the wall clock, "We must leave soon, or else we may not reach the train in time." Armstrong gave one last nod to Marco, before turning and leaving through the door. The Elder Elric and Naruto followed close behind, all making haste toward Sewly Train station.

XxX

Ed, once again, was looking out of the window of train car, watching as the landscape sped by. Next to him was his brother, who speaking with Armstrong about the Armstrong Family Estate, and the large rose bushes that surrounded it. Across from him was Naruto, who was scribbling away on his notebook, seemingly oblivious to the world around him.

He opened his palm to look at the vial red liquid in his hand. He had forgotten to return it to Marco, so now it was in his possession until he could find a time when he would see the doctor again.

"That must be similar to what God feels like," stated Naruto, gaining Ed's attention, although the other two were so enraptured in their conversation.

Ed nodded, holding the vial up so that he could see it more clearly in the overhead light of the cabin.

"Hundreds of souls, in the palm of your hand," continued Naruto. "This is the culmination of everything that a person is, ended in a single moment, doomed to a fate worse than death. To forever be the source of power for another, to never again being able to taste, touch, hear, see, or smell. To simply exist is a fate I would wish on no one, not even my worst enemies or the most horrible of people."

Ed just continued to look at the vial, before placing it onto the cab table. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his piece of chalk, quickly scribbling a transmutation circle onto the corner of the table. He placed the vial onto the center of the circle and touched the edge of the circle. A bright blue light flashed, interrupting Al and Armstrong from their conversation, having been amazingly oblivious to the machinations of Ed up until this point.

When the blue light faded, instead of a vial, there was crystalline dodecahedron filled with the remains of the incomplete philosopher stone, connected to the dodecahedron was a metal chain. Ed picked up the necklace and held it up.

"I promise," stated Ed, speaking to stone within the crystal, "To each of you in there, you will have a body and will live once again."

He then slid the chain over his head, tucking it under his ponytail before stuffing the stone into his shirt. He then looked up, realizing the show he had just made for the three around him and blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"Sorry," stated Ed, "You two should continue your conversation,"

Armstrong shook his head. "No, what you did was a most…youthful act, and should be treated as such. Upon arriving in Resembool, I will buy you a copy of the wonderful Make Out Paradise and we shall revel in the wonder that is literary enlightenment!"

"That SMUT is not a literary masterpiece, and keep that garbage away from my brother, or I swear, I will rip that little piece of hair out of your head and find the rest of your books and BURN THEM!"

Naruto chuckled as the two continued to yell at the other, one proclaiming the book to be a "work of the gods" and the other claiming that it was garbage. He took another deep breath, relishing in the feeling, before closing his notebook and looking out into the inky blackness of the night.

"_I think, I may start training again,_" thought Naruto, before leaning his head into the cushion of his seat and falling into a light sleep, thoughts of chakra and philosopher stones going through his head.

XxX

Marco sighed as he placed his plate into his kitchen sink, having just finished a meager dinner of what he could scrounge up from inside his icebox.

"_I guess I am going to have to go shopping, again," _he thought to himself.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a knock on his door.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Marco wondered, "It can't possibly be Alex again." He thought it wasn't entirely impossible that someone from the town had an emergency nighttime call. It had happened a few times before.

He walked up to his door, unbolting its numerous locks. Upon opening the door, he stumbled back, horror covering his face.

Standing in the door way was a women unlike any other.

"Aww, is that how you greet an old acquaintance?" the woman cooed, as she flicked back her waist-length black hair and stepped over the threshold.

The woman was the definition of femininity, possessing inhuman amounts of grace and beauty. Her eyes, which were a shade of red that could only be found in the finest of wines, looked over Marco with cruel disdain. She exuded an aura of pure animal desire that would cause longing in the eyes of any man. The clothes she wore only accentuated that fact. A calf- length, strapless, one-piece dress was her clothing of choice and long black gloves extended all the way up to her shoulder. On the center of the woman's chest, just below the collar bone, an Ouroborus tattoo was proudly shown.

"How did you find me?" inquired Marco fearfully, his hand slowly moving to his pocket.

The woman chuckled, before extending her hand up and pointing her index finger toward Marco. The appendage rapidly lengthened, and before Marco knew what was happening, he found his hand speared by the woman's finger.

Marco cried out in pain and attempted to pull the finger out of his flesh, but found it riveted in place, the finger several times stronger than any steel. The woman walked forward, her high heels clacking on the wood of the house. The extended finger shortened as she walked forward, aligning itself so that it was twisting the skin in Marco's hand as her angle changed with every step. She crouched down in front of the doctor, giving her finger one final twist before wrenching it out of Marco's hand.

"Did you really think you could hide forever?" the woman asked, her voice dripping with condescension.

"I-I-I…" Marco couldn't reply, the combination of terror and pain rendering him speechless.

"It was only a matter of time before word spread of a 'miracle' doctor, who could cure anyone of their ills," the woman leaned forward, so that her mouth was next to Marco's ear. "You slipped up Marco."

A wet thump resounded throughout the house.

Marco looked in abstract horror as he watched the woman's body slide down a cone of wood that rose from the floor. However, instead of blood, the wound spilled red lighting and before Marco could do more than scream the woman's hand lashed out and impacted into Marco's face, launching him into the wall of his house. The last thing he saw, before he blacked out, was the form of the woman cutting herself from the spike of wood and another walking into his house, carrying a large, black bag.

XxX

**Well, that really sucks for Marco. I felt like his character in the show was great, but didn't get as good a backstory as some of the other ones, so I gave him one. I really liked this one, especially the interactions between Ed and Armstrong. **

**Which, by the way, SPEAKING LIKE THIS AND VERBALLY ABUSING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS A GRAND WAY OF COMMUNICATING, DO YOU NOT THINK?!**

**I love writing Armstrong, he's one of my favorite characters in anime, and personally, I think the best fight that could ever happen ever, is a fight between him and Miato Gai.**

**Sorry for rambling, I really hoped you guys liked the chapter it was very fun to write.**

**So, for now, I shall leave you.**

**Salem52,**

**Signing off.**


	6. Choices

**Hey my peeps! This is Salem52, signing in.**

**Well, I bet you didn't expect a chapter so soon now did ya?**

**I don't really have much to say right now, except that night-step is a life saver when you are up at four am, still writing.**

**Now without further ado, I present:**

**For Those Who Remember**

Naruto took in another deep breath of the fresh mountain air, relishing the feeling of being able to breathe properly. He turned and looked across the long expanses of fields and meadows surrounding Resembool.

Resembool was a small agricultural town located deep in Eastern Amestris' mountain range, bordering the area that was once known as Ishval. The city was not well known, but it was a popular rest stop for those making the commute between South City and East City and was the unofficial hub of the surrounding villages. During the Ishvalan war, it had been a staging point for many excursions into Ishvalan territory, but had not been used for anything since and was left in relative peace.

The dirt path that the group had been traveling for the last half an hour apparently led to Ed's auto-mail mechanic, whose house was located a little farther up the mountain. The path was lined with low stone walls on either side that seemed to be quite old and barely did their job at keeping the rangy bovine from crossing the dirt path.

Naruto looked up to Ed, who hadn't said much as they walked, instead getting a far-away look when he saw particular objects or places. Ed had even stopped for a while to gaze at an apple orchard that they had passed on their way out of town.

"We should be nearly there," mumbled Ed, more to himself than anyone else.

Not a moment later, the group crested the small hill that they had been trudging up to see a large two story house. The house was an inviting yellow, with green beams contrasting against bright walls. On top of the house were three chimneys, smoking from use, and in front of the house was a large painted sign that read "Auto Mail Here" in large white letters. There was a balcony on the second floor of the house, above the main entrance, with a red banner hanging off of its railing. Any words that might have been written on it, however, had been worn away with the passage of time. On the front porch was an old woman sitting in a rocking chair and smoking her pipe. Upon seeing the group reach the top of the hill, the woman quickly got off of her chair, before rushing inside.

As the group approached the house, the woman reappeared, this time without her pipe, and walked down the steps of the house, stopping in front of the group. Ed stepped forward so that he would be the first to be addressed.

The woman was old, seeming to be in her late seventies, although one couldn't be too sure. She was rather short in stature, being even shorter than Ed in this instance, standing at roughly four and a half feet tall. She had her gray hair tucked into an odd top-not that extended strait from the top of her head, giving her an additional half a foot in height. She wore a pair of circular, wire-framed glasses that reflected the light of the sun, preventing one from seeing her eyes. The woman smirked, pulling her hands out of her white apron and folding them in front of her.

"Well, if it isn't young Ed. What have you done and gotten yourself into _this _time?" inquired the old woman, flicking her eyes toward the group behind Ed.

Ed laughed, putting his hand behind his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, Al and I have kinda fallen apart. Do you think you could fix us up?" asked Ed, his voice reflecting the embarrassment he felt.

The old woman nodded, "Sure, Ed. Winry and I are always here to help." The old woman then looked passed Ed and up to Al, who was still being carried by Armstrong, "How's it going Al?"

"Well, not a great as I'd hoped, but better than it could be," replied Al, still sounding happy, despite his inconclusive answer.

Ed seemed to remember that he had company and stepped to the side to introduce his companions.

"Granny," began Ed, "this is Major Alex Louis Armstrong,"

The colossal man placed Al's box on the ground next to him, before reaching down and grasping the old woman's hand.

"Pleasure," stated the woman, "I am Pinako Rockbell."

Ed then held his hand out towards Naruto.

"And this, is Naruto Uzumaki,"

Once again, the woman shook the taller man's hand before stepping back and sizing the group up as a whole.

"Well, it's been a while Ed, and to me, it seems as though you've gone and grown smaller." Pinako smirked at the look on Ed's face, as the compliment he had expected to receive was turned upside-down.

"You're doing it wrong Granny," stated Ed, his face depicting the epitome of annoyance, "you're supposed to say 'my, how big you've grown.'"

"_Why _would I say something so blatantly untrue?" inquired Pinako, still smirking at how easily Ed was riled up.

"I'M STILL TALLER THEN YOU! YOU OLD HA-" anything that Ed would have said further was silenced by a small wrench colliding with his face.

"Ed, I told you to call ahead if you needed maintenance," called a young woman from the second floor balcony of the house.

The lady was lovely, possessing a beauty only held in youth. She must have been about the same age as Ed, although she was a good few inches taller than him. She had long, blonde hair to the middle of her back, which was kept out of her face by an olive-colored bandana. Two bangs, however, seemed to have escaped the bandana's confines and were instead hanging loosely around either side of her face. She wore a grey jumpsuit, however the top portion hung loosely around her waist. A tube top was the only thing protecting her modesty, although this seemed to be more for ease of work than any fashion statement. Her most prominent feature, however, was her bright blue eyes that shown with an intense curiosity seldom seen in one so young.

"What the hell, Winry," cried out Ed, getting up off the ground and rubbing the rapidly forming bruise on his forehead, "are you _trying _to kill me?"

The young woman laughed mirthfully, before leaning back from the balconies railing, "It's good to see you back, Ed."

XxX

Naruto watched with mirth as Winry opened the box that Ed had brought with him from East City. Inside was his auto-mail arm, or what was left of it. The lady reached into the box, various cables and wires slipping through her fingers like sand.

"Yeah, I know, it's a little smashed up," stated Ed from his place on the living room couch. Next to him sat his brother, although Alphonse was still in pieces and required assistance to even move.

Winry turned to look at Ed with sorrowful eyes.

"A _little_ smashed up?" accused Winry. "It's in pieces. Do you know how long I slaved over this? It was my best creation!"

"It's the same thing," replied Ed, taking a sip of the tea Pinako had provided. "It's just in smaller pieces." Ed quickly moved his head to the side as Winry threw one of the larger remaining pieces of the arm at his head.

Winry sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, before replacing the lid on the box. She turned and leaned back against the kitchen table, where Pinako and Armstrong were currently sitting, watching the spectacle with amusement. Naruto, on the other hand, was leaning on the wall near the living room door, watching from a slightly greater distance.

"And you're all smashed up as well," stated Winry, addressing Al, to which the embodied armor laughed nervously, "I swear, you two only exist to worry me."

"So," began Pinako, pulling out her small pipe, "What happened?"

Ed leaned back into the couch, taking a comfortable position, before sighing.

"Where to begin?" stated Ed, putting his hand on his chin, "Well, I guess you guys have heard of the serial killer who is targeting alchemists, right?"

Winry's face visibly paled and Pinako pulled out her tin of tobacco, filling her pipe and lighting it before nodding.

"Yeah, we've heard about him," replied Pinako, taking a drag of her pipe and getting the leaves burning, "He killed some general recently, or something like that."

Ed nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah," Ed stated hesitantly, "Well, we fought him, but were incredibly outclassed in the matter."

Winry gasped, putting her hands up to her mouth.

"Needless to say, after that, we were hard pressed to do anything other than run. He cornered us, and in our attempt to escape, Al lost his most of his body and I lost my arm." Ed rubbed his arm stump, before looking over to Naruto guiltily. "Naruto saved Al and me from Scar, and if it wasn't for him, we would surely be dead. He lost his arm in our defense, which is why I also needed to ask a favor of Winry and you."

Pinako looked over at Naruto, before nodding her aged head.

"Done," stated Pinako, answering Ed before he could even verbalize the request.

"Thanks," replied Ed, actual gratitude in his voice. Despite how he acted, he knew how much effort it took to make auto-mail, especially something as complicated as an arm.

"Continue your story," prompted Pinako, taking another drag from her pipe.

"Well, there is not much more to tell," stated Ed. "On the way up here, we met an old acquaintance of Major Armstrong, who gave us a very promising lead on the Philosopher's stone. On that note, how long do you think it will take to make the auto-mail?"

Pinako didn't immediately respond, instead taking one more long drag from her pipe, before tilting it upside down and emptying its contents into an ashtray on the kitchen table.

"So, you need to get this done as quickly as possible so you can procure this _lead_, am I right?" inquired Pinako, sliding off of her chair and walking over to Ed.

"Yea, it's kind of a rushed order, sorry," replied Ed, taking another sip of his tea.

Pinako bent down and lifted his auto-mail leg, comparing it to his real one.

"It's not just your arm, your leg will also needs adjustments," stated Pinako, holding her hand to Ed's auto-mail foot and measuring the distance between it and the real thing. She contributed the image to memory, before walking over to Naruto and looking up at him.

"Young man, I will have to ask you to remove your coat and sit down," requested Pinako, reaching into her apron and pulling out a measuring tape.. Naruto stripped off his cloak, revealing his red dress shirt, sleeve still ripped off from his ordeal with Scar. As he sat down, Pinako moved closer, measuring his shoulders and his other arm.

"So, how long do you think it will take?" inquired Ed, reiterating his previous question.

"You know, Ed," began Pinako, measuring Naruto's chest width, "Patience is a valuable trait to have."

Ed grumbled indignantly, but waited until Pinako had finished taking Naruto's measurements.

A few minutes later, Pinako backed away from Naruto, taking her pipe out of her mouth and putting her hand onto her chin.

"Well, leg aside; with the state your arm's in, we're gonna have to start from scratch, not to mention Naruto's arm," stated Pinako, walking over to the kitchen table and picking up the box which contained the remains of Ed's arm.

"Do you think you could complete it in two weeks?" inquired Ed, his voice slightly hopeful.

Pinako snorted in a very unladylike manner.

"Please, Ed, give us some credit," replied Pinako, turning around with the box in her hands, a challenging look on her face, "Seven days, that's what we'll need,"

She then turned to Winry.

"Winry, darling, could you go and fetch the spare for Ed?" Winry nodded, and left the room, heading upstairs to her workshop.

Pinako turned to Armstrong and Naruto.

"Sorry boys, but we've only got two spare beds, so one of you is gonna have to take the sofa."

"I shall take the sofa," stated Naruto, leaning off the wall.

"Mr. Naruto, I must protest," argued Armstrong, not liking the idea of taking the bed away from the injured. Naruto laughed, before shaking his head.

"Sorry Major, but if YOU slept on the couch, I'm afraid they would need to buy new furniture by the time we leave." Naruto walked over to Ed and Al and sat in between them, as if he were claiming the couch. Armstrong huffed indignantly, but didn't protest any further, acknowledging Naruto's point about his abnormally large size.

A moment later, Winry entered the room again, this time carrying a normal prosthetic leg. She walked up to Ed, kneeling down and undoing the hydraulic restraints on Ed's auto-mail leg that kept it locked firmly onto his thigh.

"Well, I guess this proves that your growth isn't COMPLETELY stunted," stated Winry, smiling as she unscrewed his last release valve.

"OH SHUT UP WINR-" Ed didn't say anything more as Winry yanked his auto-mail leg out of its socket. Ed hissed in pain as the nerve endings connected to his leg forcefully severed. "God I hate that feeling."

Winry wordlessly snapped the normal prosthetic into place, locking it with a few screws instead of the hydraulics that his auto-mail used. Ed stood up, but stumbled forward a little bit, unused to the feeling of a non-responsive leg.

"Well?" inquired Pinako.

"It's weird, not being on my normal leg, but I'll get used to it," replied Ed, leaning from side to side and getting a feel for the prosthetic.

"Well, don't get too comfortable," commanded Pinako, retrieving the leg from Winry. "We'll have your leg ready and back to you before you know it. In the meantime, I suggest helping around the house, maybe giving your friends a tour around the town and showing them the orchard."

"Sure thing Granny, and once again, thanks," Ed walked around a little more, before gaining some confidence in his stride and walking toward the kitchen door.

"Don't thank us just yet," replied Winry. "We charge extra for rush orders, and that's on top of the small fortune you're already spending for a leg adjustment _and _two arms."

"Yeah, yeah," dismissed Ed, as he walked out of the kitchen. "Come on guys, let me show you round the town," stated Ed, addressing Naruto and Armstrong.

"Do you think you could get me a book while you're out?" inquired Al, his tone a little sad that he couldn't join his brother in the tour. But he knew that even with how strong Armstrong proclaimed to be, carrying a three-hundred pound suit of armor up a hill for thirty minutes was no small feat and Armstrong was probably pretty taxed from that.

"Sure thing Al," replied Ed. He would get Al some fantasy books and any cookbooks that he could find in the town's small bookstore. Ever since Al had ceased to have taste buds, he had made it a personal hobby of recording any food he saw that looked particularly tasty, so that when he had a body again, he could taste them all.

Ed smiled at that, his brother's faith that they would find a cure for his body. Al treated it like a "when" not an "if", and that only further strengthened Ed's resolve to find a way to get his brother's body back. He had to, because no matter what, Ed would not make Al suffer for his own mistakes. Never again.

XxX

Naruto watched in mild fascination as Armstrong relentlessly turned all the excess logs that Pinako had into fire wood. The reason that this normally mundane act was made fascinating, was that instead of using the conventional method of an axe and hammer, Armstrong was using his bare fists to do the cutting. Or in this case, smashing. Next to him sat Alphonse, who was reading a cookbook on Xingese curries.

It had been three days since the group had arrived at the Rockbell residence, and Naruto had learned a great deal about his new friends.

The Rockbells were an old family in this community, apparently being one of the patron families of the town, having been around since its conception. The Rockbells used to own the orchard down the road, but with Winry's parents pursuing a more academic profession, they deigned to sell the orchard. Using the money that they had gotten, they renovated Pinako's house, adding a second story as well as eight more rooms. The people that they sold the orchard to just happened to be the Ed and Al's parents, Trisha Elric and Van Hohenheim. They, in turn, sold most of the orchard to the railroad company for a lucrative sum of money. Pinako had apparently known Trisha and Hohenheim intimately, so no ill will was held towards the two, despite most of her family's orchard having been uprooted.

Naruto leaned over to look at what Al was currently looking at in the cookbook.

"Find anything good Alphonse?" inquired Naruto, trying to make out the name of the dish.

"Yea, it's a Xingese pumpkin curry with a thing called squid. It sounded interesting and I was considering adding it to my list," replied Al, the decision seeming to actually be a difficult one, since his notebook was already so full.

"Mmm, that sounds tasty. Squid is one of my personal favorites," replied Naruto, leaning back against the barrel he and Al were using as a backrest.

"Were do you get squid? I've never heard of it," inquired Al, genuinely intrigued.

"I'm not surprised, since squid can only be fished in the ocean," replied Naruto matter-of-factly.

"You've been to the sea?!" exclaimed Al, very surprised. Amestris was a landlocked country, with the closest access to the ocean being through the country of Aerugo to the south. Aerugo was a country with which they were currently at war and with which they had been at war for the last two hundred years. Needless to say, very few Amestrians ever saw the ocean.

"Aye, I have," replied Naruto, smiling at the young soul's curious excitement.

"What's it like?" asked Al, closing his book and paying rapt attention to Naruto.

"Well, I would start by saying it's indescribable, but that isn't a satisfactory answer. The ocean is, well, it is the largest thing I have ever seen in my life," said Naruto, placing his hands behind his head and staring into space.

"That must be pretty big," inferred Al, his voice filled with wonder. Naruto looked over at Al, before chuckling.

"You have no idea. When you look at the sea, you just see blue for all the way to the horizon and the sky reflects off the water and you just think you are walking among the clouds. The air is moist and salty and smells wonderful. You and your brother have never experienced anything else, but the air here in Amestris is pretty dry," Naruto seemed to lose himself in his description, thinking of all the things he associated with the sea, good and bad.

"The ocean sounds beautiful," stated Al, enraptured by Naruto's description.

"It is, I will never tire of seeing the ocean, it is one constant that will always be there, no matter how old you live to be," stated Naruto, still lost in his world of description. Naruto turned his head towards Al once again.

"Hey Al,"

"Yes?"

"Promise me, if you ever get the chance to see the ocean, take it. Nobody should have to go through their life and not see it at least once." Naruto, looked up into Al's red eyes.

"S-Sure," replied Al, a little put off by the intensity of the question, "So long as my brother can come along."

Naruto looked up at Al for a moment, before smiling and nodding.

"Good," Naruto leaned back and closed his eyes, "I'm going to rest for a little bit, wake me up when it is time for dinner.

"Sure thing Mr. Naruto," replied Al. Sensing that the moment was over, he turned back and opened his book but couldn't concentrate and closed it again. Al looked up into the cloudless sky, to see an expanse of clear blue as far as he could see.

_"I wonder," _thought Al, _"Is that what the ocean looks like?"_

XxX

"You know, mom, Al came up to me yesterday and told me he wanted to see the ocean, just out of the blue." Ed was sitting in front of a small headstone in Resembool's small cemetery. The headstone read, "Trisha Elric, Beloved mother and wife, 1878-1904." On top of the headstone was a bouquet of white flowers that Ed had bought in town.

"But only when he's human, he says that he wants to not only see the ocean, but also feel it. It amazes me how easily Al rebounds after finding out about the Philosopher's stone. I think Naruto must have had a hand in Al's desire to see the sea, since I don't think anyone else we know could have possibly been there. That is unless Granny is a surprise explorer that we don't know about." Ed laughed half-heartedly at his own joke, playing with some of the grass to pass the time while he talked with his mother, "He and Naruto have gotten pretty close, and I think Al views him as one of his best friends. That's good though, Al needs more friends that aren't associated with the military,"

Ed looked up at the sky, noticing the changes in hues as the sun started its slow descent into night.

"I'm going to have to go. Granny is making stew tonight, and she'll be really irritable if I'm late. I'll see you again tomorrow," Ed slowly stood up, placing his hand on the headstone for a moment, as if he were trying to feel his mother through the cold gray stone. He lifted his hand from the stone, looking down at it, before turning around and heading out of the cemetery, eventually making his way to the Rockbell house.

XxX

Naruto watched Pinako as she diligently twisted each screw into his, soon to be, auto-mail arm. He looked to the wall clock and saw that it was nearly three in the morning. The Rockbells had been working like this for the last five days, taking only one day to rest in between the creation Ed's arm and Naruto's. Pinako took to doing most of her work on the kitchen table, leaving Winry the shop. This lead to Naruto having a first-hand view on what went into making auto-mail.

Pinako put down her screwdriver, took out her pipe and stuffed it with tobacco. She turned to look at Naruto, who had been watching quietly for the last six hours, since dinner had ended and everyone went to bed, or in Winry's case, upstairs to work on Naruto's auto-mail. This had been their routine for the last five days. She would work and Naruto would watch silently. They hadn't really talked much, except for the occasional question from Naruto about the auto-mail.

"You know," began Pinako, lighting her pipe and taking a long drag, "You are one of the most patient individuals I have ever met,"

Naruto smiled.

"Thanks," replied Naruto, shifting his position on the wall slightly, "As you said though, patience is a quality that is highly valued."

Pinako snorted in amusement.

"I said that just to get Ed to shut up," she took another drag.

"Even so, there is truth in those words," replied Naruto.

Pinako nodded in agreement, just sitting there for a moment and feeling the small head rush she got from the tobacco.

"So," began Pinako, "How'd you, Ed and Al meet,"

Naruto looked at Pinako confused.

"Didn't Ed and Al tell you?" inquired Naruto, surprise in his voice.

"Well, yes, but that is their half of the story. They said you appeared out of nowhere when they were in some backwater city named Lior and have been following them ever since," said Pinako, smiling at their description of the meeting.

"Heh, that is actually not too far from the truth," replied Naruto, chuckling. "Lior is a city that is heavily religious, to say the least. Although they didn't see much danger at the time, alchemy and religion don't usually mix too well. Needless to say, they were making a show of their State Alchemist status,"

"That's Ed, showy as ever," interjected Pinako, getting up, walking toward the kitchen and getting a kettle ready for some tea, "Please continue."

"Anyway, I shadowed them for a while, finding out why a state alchemist would be in Lior, a city that has relatively no value to the military whatsoever." Naruto saw Pinako stiffen slightly when she heard that he had basically stalked the Elrics for a small time. "Apparently, they were after the religious leader there, a man named Cornello. He had been using a pseudo Philosopher's stone to make the people of Lior believe he was the prophet of their 'Divine God Leto.' I introduced myself to them after that, helped them out of a few scrapes, and I've been with them ever since. Ed and Al caught Cornello red handed and exposed him for the fraud he was. The stone, however, was unusable,"

Pinako listened to the story with rapt attention, and, when the story was finished, she took one last final drag, before tipping the contents of her pipe into her ashtray.

"Thank you Naruto. We rarely hear from the boys. The last letter we received from them was a note saying that Ed was a State Alchemist and that he wouldn't be around for a while." Pinako laughed, "Three years is a long while. It's good to hear that they are doing well,"

Pinako turned her head to the tea pot, hearing the low bubbling that signified the boiling of the water. She got up and walked over to the kitchen, taking the kettle from the stove and pouring its contents into a small tea pot, which she then brought over to the table along with two mugs.

"They are doing well," began Naruto, taking the cup of tea that Pinako offered him, "but their success has not come without fault."

"How so?" inquired Pinako.

"Ed's headstrong, and even outright rebellious at times. And, given his status as a State Alchemist, he has knocked heads with more than a few military higher ups," replied Naruto, taking a sip of his tea, "He also has a knack for finding trouble in even the most mundane situations."

Pinako laughed, taking a sip of her tea before turning back to the auto-mail arm and resuming her work.

"That sounds like Ed," replied Pinako, placing down her screwdriver and holding up part of what would soon be Naruto's elbow.

"Despite that, they've also made quite a few friends as well," stated Naruto walking over to the couch and sitting.

"That's good," relied Pinako, placing the elbow down and picking up her screwdriver, "Friends are a valuable thing, one that most of us take for granted,"

"That they are," agreed Naruto, leaning back into the couch, "Pinako, may I ask a personal question,"

"Depends," replied Pinako.

"What happened to their father? I know that Trisha died in the plagues, but they haven't even spoken about their father,"

Pinako sighed, placing down her screwdriver and taking a sip of her tea.

"Van Hohenheim, the boy's father, was an old drinking pal of mine. He and I go way back and I was actually the one that introduced him to Trisha. The only reason I even let my son sell that orchard to them was because I knew that it would help them, being newlywed and all. One day though, about a year before the start of the Ishvalan war, he just up and left the village, abandoning his wife and sons." Pinako sighed, "I don't even know whether he is alive or not,"

"What happened to Winry's parents? I haven't seen them about," inquired Naruto, slightly angered about the whole abandonment issue.

"Gone," replied Pinako, sadly, "They both died in the war,"

"I'm sorry for your loss," replied Naruto, not liking that he had brought up a sensitive subject.

"It's alright. I accepted their deaths a long time ago. They were surgeons you see. There were never enough doctors to fix up the injured, so they went to see what they could do." Pinako sighed before picking up the arm and resuming her work on it.

"The war was a terrible, stupid thing," stated Naruto darkly.

"Yes," agreed Pinako, "Yes it was,"

The conversation halted there, neither one saying anything. Silence once again reigned, the only sound being Pinako's screwdriver clicking against the mail. After a while the first light of day began to peek through the kitchen window. Pinako looked over to the wall clock and noticed the time. It was five-thirty.

"I better get breakfast started," said Pinako, more to herself than to Naruto, who heard the statement anyway.

"I can go get the wood," stated Naruto, leaning off the wall and stretching forward a little bit, bending down and touching his toes.

"That would be lovely," replied Pinako, getting off of her chair and making her way into the kitchen, bringing the tea pot and cups along with her, "Oh, and Naruto,"

Naruto stopped at the front door, turning around to see Pinako regard him with a kind smile.

"Thanks for the company."

Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Anytime," replied Naruto, before walking out into the cool morning air.

XxX

Naruto, Armstrong, Ed, Al were all sitting at the kitchen table. Pinako and Winry were currently up in the second story workshop, so they had relative privacy. Naruto was sitting on one side of the table, while Armstrong, Ed, and Al were sitting on the other.

"So, I believe you guys have some questions for me," stated Naruto, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on the table.

"Yes, I believe we all do," replied Armstrong, "If you don't mind boys, I would like to ask a few of my questions first."

"Sure," replied Ed, leaning back in his chair.

"I don't mind," seconded Al.

"All right, so first off. In Marco's house you mentioned that _your people _do this soul manipulation. Where do your people come from and why hasn't Amestris ever come into contact with them?"

Naruto nodded, it was a reasonable question.

"The land I come from is known as Konohagakure and is located on the far side of Xing, way to the east," replied Naruto.

"We've sent scouts out as far the Great Ocean to the east. How come they didn't encounter your people then?" inquired Armstrong.

"I guess your scouts passed through a large forest on their way," replied Naruto, obviously leading up to something.

"Unfortunately, I have not looked at the maps directly, so I wouldn't know," answered Armstrong, shrugging his large shoulders.

"Konohagakure is located deep within the forest. So I'm not surprised your people didn't find us," informed Naruto.

"If you are from another land, one that we have not contacted before, then why didn't you speak to our government when you arrived? If you've been here as long as you seem to have been, wouldn't you at least try to set up contact between your people and Amestris?" Naruto smiled, Armstrong was being very thorough.

"My people are quite xenophobic. We don't even trade with Xing and we guard our lands vigilantly. My views on other countries are quite frowned upon in Konohagakure and were one of the main reasons why I left," Naruto answered, his responses smooth and without hesitation.

"You claim that you can manipulate your soul? How did your people learn such a thing?" Armstrong crossed his arms, interested in all that Naruto had said thus far.

"Well, we don't know how he did it, but the first person to learn of chakra manipulation-"

"What?" Naruto was interrupted by Ed.

"Chakra, it is basically our word for soul," explained Naruto, getting a nod of understanding from Ed, "Anyway, the first person in our culture that learned chakra manipulation was the Sage of Six Paths, who taught us the secrets of our soul."

"Brother," exclaimed Al.

"Yeah, I know Al, that sounds an awful lot like the Philosophers of the East and West," replied Ed, completing his brother's thought.

"So, do you guys have any other questions?" asked Naruto, directing the question towards Ed and Al.

"Yeah," replied Ed, "what exactly can you _do _with your chakra? I mean, it sounds cool and all that you can manipulate your soul. But if it doesn't really do anything then what's the point?"

"Good question Ed," commented Naruto. "Given enough time, work, and ingenuity, a person who has access to their chakra can accomplish practically anything, and this is not an exaggeration when I say _anything_,"

"So what, can you like, breath fire or something?" inquired Ed flippantly.

"Yes, actually," replied Naruto, grinning at their reaction.

Ed, Al, and Even Armstrong were looking at Naruto as though he had just grown a second head.

"Bullshit," replied Ed.

Naruto laughed, before getting up and out of his chair.

"Come on, I'll show you guys something cool," stated Naruto, heading towards the backdoor of the house. Ed, Al, and Armstrong followed closely behind, still questioning the legitimacy of Naruto's statement.

XxX

The Rockbell house didn't really have a backyard, so much as the whole mountain was their backyard. So when Naruto left out of the back door of the house, he continued walking up the mountain until the Rockbell house was quite out of sight. He stopped when he found a decent sized cutout of the mountains were the slope was minimal. It was cover in grass and flowers and there was a large tree near the steeper part of the cutout, where the mountain resumed its steep incline.

"Naruto, I swear, if you brought us hiking all the way up here for nothing, I'm gonna kick your ass, one arm or no," threatened Ed, plopping down on the ground, rubbing his thigh where his prosthetic was located. While Armstrong didn't show it, he was of a similar mindset, having had to carry Al all the way up as well.

"You guys knew what you were getting the moment you started that hike," replied Naruto, amused. Ed looked up at Naruto annoyed, before Naruto put his hand up in peace.

Naruto walked a little way ahead of the trio, before turning and bowing.

"Gentlemen and gentler men, I present to you Gokakyu no jutsu," suddenly Naruto turned, his left hand going through several odd movements, before finally stopping. His hand was being held in place just below his mouth, with his pinky and ring fingers tucked and his middle and index finger pointing straight up, the tips of which were actually touching his lips. Naruto took an immense breath, holding it for a moment, before yelling.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) he then exhaled, but instead of air he released a massive ball of fire about ten feet across, which launched around thirty feet in front of him, before finally dispersing. The grass where the ball of fire had passed over was completely blackened, just showing how hot the fire was. Naruto turned around, breathing heavily and placing his hand up against his chest. He smiled at what he saw, and despite his haggard breathing, laughed.

Ed looked astonished, while Al clapped his arm against his breastplate. Armstrong, while amazed, was frowning.

"That is one of our lower class techniques, although generally it would be a lot bigger, but due to certain _circumstances _most of my chakra abilities are somewhat restrained and do not have as large an effect as they should," informed Naruto.

"You just breathed fucking FIRE!" exclaimed Ed, still looking at the scorched earth where Naruto's fireball had passed over.

"It's not _that_ impressive," replied Naruto sheepishly, "I mean, look at Mustang, he can create Firestorms at the snap of a finger."

Ed shook his head in denial.

"No, you don't get it. Mustang like, ignites the air or something. You just _created _fire. According to the law of conservation of mass, that is not supposed to be possible. You are not supposed to be able to just _create _matter," Ed shook his head, trying to come up with a logical answer.

Naruto shrugged,

"In all the time I've lived I've never really found an answer. And after so long I just decided to go with it," replied Naruto nonchalantly. "And, as I've said before, the soul is an ever- replenishing resource. All it needs to grow is emotional or physical stimulation."

"That is another thing I meant to ask you," began Ed, "How can our souls grow? I mean, don't we all just have one soul? Like one equals one. No matter how big the one is written it still equals one."

Naruto shook his head.

"Your and my ideas of souls are different," explained Naruto. "The soul you're thinking of is _personality_, not the actual _soul_. The soul, at least when in relation to chakra, is one part of two halves that represent a usable resource for which I can perform my techniques."

"What is the other half?" inquired Al.

Naruto looked over at Al, before brushing his hair back with his hand.

"Boy, this brings me back to my days in the academy," stated Naruto, sitting down with his legs crossed. "Alright, so chakra consists of two parts, physical and spiritual. Every person that exists has chakra in varying degrees, although most people are born with close to the same amount of chakra in them. Chakra flows through the body along pathways, similar to your circulatory system. This is called the 'chakra network.' You with me so far?"

Ed, Al, and Armstrong nodded.

"Alright, so as you live longer your chakra pool grows with you. Someone who has done a lot with their life, such as reading the most books, or working out the most, will inevitably have a larger chakra pool than someone who has done nothing. Armstrong has spent most of his life working out, bringing his body to its physical limits, and thus has a much larger pool of physical chakra. But if you look at someone like Marco, he has spent his life studying and as result, his pool of spiritual chakra is much larger than Armstrong's. However, if a person has too much of either, then their chakra techniques will be biased toward that form of chakra." Naruto stopped when Al lifted his hand to ask a question, "Yes Al?"

"Is the chakra dependent on the age of the user? Like, what if an old man has spent most of his life working out and reading, but his age makes it so that his mind is not as sharp as it used to be, or his body is not as strong as it once was?"

"That is very astute question Al," replied Naruto, "and to answer your question, no, a man who is eighty would still be able to use the chakra that he had within him. His body or mind, however, might not be able to take the strain of the techniques,"

"You say that there are techniques that align themselves with the state of your…chakra…what would those be?" inquired Armstrong, still frowning, but quite intrigued.

"In my culture there are three paths of technique which a person can take. These are called jutsu, which roughly translates into technique. A person who has balanced out their studying and physical training would be able to use techniques from all three, however specialization is the most common practice. The three paths are called Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. The fireball that I created earlier would be listed under Ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is a very neutral path, and one often taken by those who don't have an extreme physical or mental bias in their training. I, myself, am a Ninjutsu specialist. Taijutsu, or body technique is the path that focuses primarily on physical combat, such as using chakra to augment ones movements to superhuman levels as well as straight up martial arts,"

"So in East City, when you disappeared…" inferred Armstrong, his eyes widening in comprehension at the, until then, mysterious disappearance of Naruto.

"Yes, I used chakra so that I could find Ed and Al quicker," replied Naruto.

"What is the final path?" asked Ed, just as interested as Armstrong.

"Genjutsu, or Illusory Techniques, is probably the most terrifying of the three paths to take and is just as difficult. Genjutsu focuses on disrupting an opponent's senses, making them see, hear, feel, taste, or smell differently than what is actually there. I guess the closest thing to Genjutsu would be hypnosis, just on a much more advanced level and much more effective,"

Naruto took a deep breath, finishing his explanation and watching his friend's reaction.

"Wait! You're saying that you can _control _people?" inquired Ed, looking at Naruto with apprehension.

"Well, not me per-se, but there have been a few people in our history who have been able to, more or less, control the target," said Naruto, putting his hand behind his head. "For the most part, however, Genjutsu is used more as a distraction than anything else,"

"A distraction? How do you mean?" inquired Armstrong, not really liking the idea that there is a race of people who could control others at a whim.

Naruto sighed, before flipping his hands through more motions, similar to what he had done when he created the Gokakyu no jutsu.

"Prepare yourself," stated Naruto, closing his eyes and seeming to concentrate.

"Kokuangyo no jutsu," (Bringer-of-Darkness Technique), to the eyes of Armstrong and Ed, the world began to fade to black, until they couldn't see anything except their own bodies. It was as if they were in a world of black, with their bodies being the only light source.

"What the hell happened?! I can't see anything!" cried Ed, leaping up and looking around, the clearing, although to him, it was just an endless expanse of black.

Armstrong was much calmer in this situation, looking around his world of black, before holding his hand up, still being able to see it with perfect clarity.

"Most unusual," stated Armstrong, "So this is Genjutsu."

Then, as soon as the darkness came, it left, leaving two scared alchemists and one suit of armor which was more confused than anything.

"Why wasn't I affected?" inquired Al, looking at both Armstrong and Ed and noticing their shaken state.

Naruto shrugged, wiping the sweat off of his forehead from the intense concentration the technique required.

"I don't know, perhaps it's because you don't have any senses for me to affect. I mean, by all rights you shouldn't even be able to see, speak, or hear, yet here you are, a direct contradiction to science," replied Naruto, trying to lighten the slightly tense atmosphere with a joke. "But then again, I'm no Genjutsu expert, so don't take my word for it."

"That was a most terrifying experience," stated Armstrong, getting up and walking about, "I can definitely see possible combat applications of that technique alone, and you say there is more?"

"Thousands more," replied Naruto, much to the distress of the three alchemists. "But don't worry, most of them are not as effective as that one. In fact, the only other person to be able to use it was my old master and man named Hashirama Senju, one of the most powerful practitioners in our history,"

"How are you able to use it then?" inquired Ed, still a little shaken by the experience, "I mean, you said that you specialized in Ninjutsu right?"

"Yes, that is true. However, the limitation on that technique is not skill, although that is a major part of it. It uses a tremendous amount of chakra, far more than the average Genjutsu user would generally have," replied Naruto matter-of-factly, "Luckily, I have chakra in spades."

The trio of alchemists nodded, before sinking into their own individual thoughts. After a while Naruto got up and brushed off his jacket, before walking over to the group.

"So, are there any other questions?" inquired Naruto, looking down at the trio.

"Just one," stated Armstrong, standing up, "Will join the Amestrian military?"

Naruto looked at Armstrong for a moment, before laughing.

"I almost forgot that you gave me that offer," stated Naruto, before shaking his head, "Sorry, but I'll have to refuse,"

Armstrong sighed, before standing up, looking quite imposing.

"Then upon returning to Central, I will have to place you under arrest and bring you to the Fuhrer for further questioning and study," replied Armstrong, placing his hands behind his back.

Ed and Al looked at Armstrong in absolute surprise, not expecting this kind of reaction from the Major.

"Major?! What the hell?!" exclaimed Ed, walking up to the larger man.

Armstrong looked over towards Ed, still frowning.

"Ed, this man just displayed abilities that are far superior to our own. Not only that, but he claims that there are thousands more that he can draw from. If he were allied with Amestris, then this would not be a problem and would be encouraged. The fact of the matter is that he is not. He poses a great threat to, not only Amestris, but her people and her Fuhrer," stated Armstrong, turning back to Naruto. "Now, having heard my reasoning and the consequences, will you not reconsider?"

Naruto sighed annoyed, looking up to the skies.

"I need to think," replied Naruto, turning around and walking towards the tree on the edge of the cutout, which had been partially burnt by Naruto's Gokakyu no Jutsu.

Armstrong, Ed, and Al looked towards Naruto, then turned and made their way down to the Rockbell house, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts.

XxX

Naruto sighed as he looked up at the full moon hanging over his head. It was so bright that the field Naruto had been sitting in was illuminated with perfect clarity; the only thing letting an observer know that it was night was the silvery tint the moonlight cast upon the landscape. A snap of a stick prompted Naruto to look away from the moon, finding Armstrong's hulking form ascending the steep hill. Naruto waited a few moments, before standing up and placing his conical hat on his head. He turned toward Armstrong, who had just reached the final crest of the hill and waited.

Armstrong stopped when he saw Naruto, the black coat, high collar, and concealing hat giving the shorter man a sinister look.

"You're still here," stated Armstrong, his tone showing the slightest hints of surprise.

Naruto nodded.

"I assume you thought I was going to leave," replied Naruto, slipping his hand into his pocket.

"I had hoped you would," stated Armstrong.

"Why is that," inquired Naruto.

"Despite my accusations, I respect you very much and I do not wish to harm the Elric's savior," stated Armstrong. "Have you thought about my offer?"

"I have," replied Naruto.

"And?" inquired Armstrong.

"I will not align myself with any armed force. I fight for only myself and those I deem worthy of protecting," replied Naruto, much to Armstrong's sorrow.

"That is what I thought," replied Armstrong, taking off his military coat and pulling out his metal gauntlets from their confines in the process.

Naruto sighed.

"Are we really going to fight?" asked Naruto, his voice sounding weary.

Armstrong finished strapping his gauntlets on, letting his arms rest by his side. His coat was lying a few feet behind him.

"That decision is up to you," replied Armstrong, "Should you join, there will be no need to fight."

"Is there any way you could just, not tell?" inquired Naruto.

"Unfortunately not," replied Armstrong. "As you are, you present a large potential hazard for Amestris. From what you showed me, you could move at great speeds, render most blind, and kill large amounts of people. Not only that, but you are not a citizen of Amestris. You have no allegiance to Amestris or her people. Maybe, one day, Amestris will declare war on Konohagakure and no one will know or be prepared for someone who can blind, evade, and kill massive amounts of people. I like you, and would even call you a friend, but my duty demands that I do this. Now, for the last time, please reconsider. I don't want to hurt a friend,"

Naruto sighed.

"Sorry, but as you said, I am a man who can blind, evade, and kill massive amounts of people. If I joined your military, I would be used as a weapon to wage a war for domination of the known world. Think Armstrong, how many lives would be lost?" Naruto held up his hand. A small, Marble-sized, blue sphere appeared floated above his palm, rapidly growing in size until it was the size of a large softball. The sphere tinted red, translucent blades circulating around its outside, making it look like a demented, bladed, windmill.

"What is that?" inquired Armstrong, entranced by the red orb.

"The first stage of one of my most destructive techniques," replied Naruto, closing his hand over the orb, compressing it until it was back to its initial marble sized state.

"How destructive is that?" inquired Armstrong.

Naruto laughed grimly, closing his fist and dispersing the small orb.

"Fully formed, it could easily destroy most of this mountain. At the moment, however, I am incapable of doing so," stated Naruto, sighing.

"Why?" asked Armstrong, hoping to get something to get Naruto to join Amestris.

"Through very…unusual…circumstances, much of my power has been lost. I've been unable to perform as I once could and activities that would usually be child's play to my people now tax my body quite heavily," Naruto sighed again.

"We could help you!" pleaded Armstrong, "Amestris has some of the best medical facilities in the world; we could find a way to rehabilitate you!"

Naruto laughed grimly, his eyes showing weariness.

"Armstrong," stated Naruto, taking off his conical hat and bowing, "You truly are a good man, and I wish we didn't have to cross paths. However, I will not be the engine of war for Amestris, and if I have to eliminate you from the equation to prevent that from happening…so be it,"

Armstrong nodded, his body tensing up and his features steeling.

Naruto placed his hat back on his head, getting into a combative stance.

"Before we start," stated Naruto, his hat tipping forward so Armstrong could not see his face, "is there any unfinished business that you have; any regrets or objectives you have not completed?"

Armstrong frowned, not liking the implications of Naruto's question.

"I have only two regrets," replied Armstrong, lifting his gauntlets up in a classic pugilist stance, "That I couldn't get you to join, and that I could never earn my sister's respect."

Naruto nodded.

"Thank you. While I will not become a part of Amestris's military, I will attempt to acquire your sister's respect in your stead," Naruto lifted his head, showing Armstrong a very surprising sight. Instead of Naruto's piercing blue eyes, he saw deep purple. Even more surprising, was that around the pupil was one black circlet that looked quite unnatural.

After a moment's hesitation, Armstrong shook his head, before taking a deep breath.

_"Well," _thought Armstrong, _"If I die, at least it will be at the hands of a worthy opponent." _With that thought in mind, Armstrong charged forward, closing the distance between him and Naruto in less than a second.

As he reached Naruto, he lifted his fist, attempting to bring it slamming down on Naruto, who still hadn't moved. Then right as Armstrong's fist was about to impact on Naruto's head, Naruto moved forward, getting into Armstrong's guard. Armstrong, still invested into his first punch, couldn't even try to move as Naruto's hand reached up and grasped his forehead. Armstrong didn't have even a second to be confused, before Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Sorry," stated Naruto.

Naruto then dug his fingers into Armstrong's face, red light shining from his fingertips. Naruto pulled his hand from Armstrong's head, the red light shining brightly for a moment, then dimming down to nothing.

Armstrong's body immediately went limp, collapsing onto Naruto, who dodged out of the way, allowing the body to fall face first into the grass.

Naruto gasped, seeming to be in major pain as he grasped his head with his remaining hand. All along his body, veins started to bulge as excessive amounts of energy flowed through Naruto's chakra pathways.

Naruto stumbled over to the tree he had been sitting at before Armstrong had come up. He rubbed his hand over his temple as the purple color in his eyes receded, the normal blue seeping back to the surface. Naruto shook his head, as if he had a fly incessantly buzzing around his ears that wouldn't go away.

"Shut up," whispered Naruto, shaking his head. He looked over at Armstrong's body. "It had to be done," stated Naruto. A shiver went up his body, before he seemed to get control, leaning off the tree. He walked over to Armstrong's body, looking down at the hulking man, before reaching into his coat and pulling out a small red scroll. He flinched, pressing the base of the scroll against his temple, "You're supposed to be locked away," stated Naruto, once again, talking to himself. He kneeled next to Armstrong's body, placing the scroll on the ground next to the hulking mass. Naruto reached forward, placing his hand on Armstrong's neck, searching for the signs of a pulse. After a moment, Naruto pulled his hand away, sighing and unraveling the scroll so that it was parallel to Armstrong's body.

Along the scroll were many circles that looked similar to transmutation arrays. However, instead of mathematical numbers and polygons, there were kanji. Naruto reached forward and grabbed the larger man's shoulder and flipped Armstrong onto his back so that he was lying across the scroll. Naruto reached into his coat and pulled out a penknife. He placed the knife on Armstrong's abdominal, but flinched before he could do anything more.

"Do you have a better idea?" inquired Naruto, the one-sided conversation he was having with himself still continuing. Naruto shook his head, before sinking the penknife into Armstrong's flesh and start to make inscriptions into Armstrong's abdominal. After a while, the cuts started to take shape, eventually mirroring the seal that was on the scroll Armstrong's body was lying on. When he was finished, Naruto took his knife and wiped it on Armstrong's pants, before looking over his work. Satisfied, Naruto placed his knife in his coat and then placed his hand on the center of Armstrong's abdomen. Naruto closed his eyes, pumping chakra into the scroll. A moment later, the scroll glowed blue and a mass of smoke covered Armstrong's body. When the smoke dispersed, the only thing remaining was the scroll, with the seal now glowing red.

Naruto rolled up the scroll, tucking it into his coat and looking over to Armstrong's blue military overcoat. He walked up to the piece of clothing, before sighing. He put his remaining hand in front of himself, pointing his index and middle finger up.

Without a sound, a perfect copy of Naruto appeared next to the original, the only signal of something even happening being a small puff of smoke. Naruto looked to his clone, before tossing the copy Armstrong's coat.

Wordlessly, the copy place its hand in front of itself, much in the same manner Naruto did when he created the clone. A moment later, the clone was surrounded by a puff of smoke, and when the smoke disappeared, an exact copy of a shirtless Armstrong stood in the clone's stead. The clone donned Armstrong's coat, moving around and getting a feel for the article of clothing. Naruto reached into his own black cloak and threw the scroll containing Armstrong's body to his clone. The clone caught the scroll with ease, before saluting Naruto and making its way down the hill, heading toward Resembool's train station.

Naruto watched as the false Armstrong disappeared down the mountain, then sighed and walked back to the tree, sitting down at its base. He folded his legs so that he was in a meditative position and closed his eyes, steadied his breathing and focused on his body. After a moment, Naruto's body relaxed as his consciousness left him and he entered his mind for the first time in over four hundred years.

XxX

**Obviously, that AN at the begining was a LONGGGGGGGGG time ago. My editor has been a little wonky as of late and couldn't fininsh editing until JUST NOW. I had the chapter done, literally four hours after the posting of the last one. So, sorry for the delay, blame my editor.**

**Anyway.**

** How was that? Armstrong is dead. In the words of one of my favorite authors, "I have taken the series, turned it onto its side, and shoved a pineapple up its ass."**

**Anyway, I hope I see you guys soon, until then.**

**This Salem52,**

**Signing off.**


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